Karsanbhai Patel Biography 
Karsanbhai Patel, often mentioned as K. K. Patel is an Indian industrialist and the man behind the hugely successful brand, Nirma, known for detergents, soaps and cosmetics. In 2005 Forbes listed his net worth as USD $640 million. The pharmacy college - Nirma Institute of Pharmacy and the engineering college Nirma Institute of Technology were started by him. Now the total assets of Nirma has crossed 500 million dollar.
K.K. Patel came from a humble farmer family from Mehsana, Gujarat. After graduation in chemistry, he started working as a lab technician in the New Cotton Mills, Ahmedabad. Later he worked in Geology and Mining Department of the state Government. In the year 1980, he started Nirma and very soon, it became one of the leading brands for detergents and soaps in India. He marketed the products through television and radio ads and popularised his products among common man. He started off selling detergents and the brand name Nirma was derived from his daughter’s name – Nirupama. It was started as a part time job, when men used bicycles to sell handmade detergent packets door to door. 1 kilogram powder was priced rupees 3 and very soon, it became instant success.
The high quality and low price of the detergent reached common man so easily and it attracted middle class wives also. At that time detergent industry was the monopoly of products like Surf by Hindustan Lever, priced around Rs. 13 per kg. Within a decade, Nirma became the largest selling detergent in India with employing leading employer in 2004. In 1995, Karsanbhai started the Nirma Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad which became a leading engineering college.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 07, 2014
