The brothers who contributed substantially to the industrialisation of Coimbatore are G.K. Devarajulu and G.K. Sundaram.
The sons of cotton merchant G.Kuppusamy Naidu, who also had a ginning unit, both evinced immense capability.
Devarajulu, born in 1911, was a man with appetite for risks.
He set up the Lakshmi Mills at the age of just 21. As the machinery for the cotton units were imported from Europe under the impression that those from Japan were substandard, Devarajulu visited the factory in Japan to study whether the machinery would suit Indian requirements.
Consequently all the machinery for his unit were imported from Japan. He also introduced the administrative system he found good in Japanese units.
When Devarajulu and Mr. Sundaram joined Textool as shareholders in 1940, the company produced its first ring frame.
Devarajulu joined hands with R.Venkataswamy Naidu of Peelamedu to set up the South India Viscose for which he imported machinery from Italy. While he got the license in 1957, he started the production in 1962 using a new technology.
As sweet are the uses of adversity, Devarajulu was not overawed by the stringent measures taken by the Central Government to conserve the precious foreign exchange in 1960 which had virtually crippled import of machinery for cotton mills.
This goaded him on to establishing a unit that could produce all the machinery needed for cotton mills. This Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW), which came into being with the technological support from a Swiss company in 1966, had a phenomenal impact on the industrial as well social horizon of Coimbatore.
In 1977, the unit started manufacturing a new cording machine and Devarajulu then pointed out that LMW was one among the six units in the world that could manufacture all the machinery required for cotton mills.
The company further grew adding Lakshmi Automatic Looms, Lakshmi Ring Travellers and LMW Unit 2.
He became the president of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well. Besides, he headed a number of associations including the Southern India Mills Association, South India Textile Research Association and Indian Cotton Mills Association. He passed away in 1992.
He started the G.Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital to serve the people of Coimbatore to fulfill his father’s dream. Today all his efforts have paid off and have also inspired many entrepreneurs in Coimbatore.
He also played a pivotal role in setting up of Mani Higher Secondary School, G.Venkataswamy Naidu College, Kovilpatti, and the Kuppuswamy Naidu Sports Trust. To honor his contribution to business and society, he was knighted as ‘Cavalier Devarajulu’ by the Consulate General of Italy in India.
The Pappanaikenpalayam ‘GKD Electrical Crematorium’, run by the GKD Charity Trust was the first of such. It is built on an acre of land given to GKD Charity Trust by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation at Pappanaikenpalayam.