Karsanbhai Patel

Household goods, Gujarat. Patel, a government chemist, began making detergent powder at home in 1969 and selling it door to door on his bicycle around Ahmedabad at a fraction of the price of Hindustan Lever's Surf. Nirma opened the washing powder market to households that had used bar soap, and forced the multinational to launch a cheaper brand of its own. Nirma later grew into soaps, chemicals and cement.