IM graduate who drives autorickshaw business

A degree from IIM Ahmedabad could have easily landed Nirmal Kumar a job with a fat pay packet at a multinational company. However Kumar chose to earn !s"# $$$ a month managing a fleet of %$ $$$ autorickshaws in &ujarat. Haggling with an autorickshaw driver over fare changed the course of life for this physically challenged '$$( batch graduate from the country)s premier management school. Kumar was in the city on *unday to speak at the +I,-.N meet on promoting entrepreneurship. Kumar comes from a modest background with the family based in *iwan district of /ihar. His father is employed as a primary schoolteacher. Kumar was overcharged by an auto while coming back to the college from a restaurant. He felt cheated and the idea for a business came to him. He entered into a deal with the auto drivers who park outside the IIM campus. He assured them free newspapers and an health0cum0personal insurance cover for which he spent his own money. In return they only had to give an undertaking that they would charge proper fares. +he idea clicked and the ne1t tranche of funding came from some companies in &ujarat. +he companies happily agreed since the e1penditure also accounted for their corporate social responsibility 2-*!3 activities he said. 45hen I needed more funds I contacted &ujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. +he access was easy and Modi was keen too. I re6uested his presence at the inauguration too and he obliged. He allotted funds and designated a senior bureaucrat to ensure we got the money 4 says Kumar. 5ith funds Kumar increased the facilities for drivers and developed the brand )& Auto). +he drivers got benefits like subsidi7ed health care and education for their wards besides the insurance. +oday revenue comes from mi1ed sources including government corporate as well as advertisement. 4+he vehicles carry ads from which a si7eable revenue is generated and we can break even. 5e have formed a trust which pays my salary and also '% of my colleagues 4 he said. Kumar is the managing director of the Nirmal 8oundation. 4,ven now anyone flouting the rules loses the benefits and membership of & Auto. /ut we also fight for the drivers if the cops wrongly harass them 4 he says. & Auto was voted second in the *MA!+ Mobility Awards by the 9niversity of Michigan on transportation solutions. !ecently the union urban development secretary has written to all the states to emulate the model. Kumar who also wants to e1pand recently met :elhi chief minister *heila :i1it with plans for the national capital.

9se of technology has enabled better monitoring of the vehicles through &;*. +he vehicles also have computeri7ed meters which cannot be tweaked says Kumar. <ike a radio cab customers can re6uest a & auto from a call centre or through a free mobile phone app. Kumar)s analysis is that a day)s income for an autorickshaw driver does not go beyond the minimum wage of !s'#$ after all e1penses and vehicle maintenance is taken into account. Nirmal 8oundation)s system ensures they get more trips with the help of the call centre facility. +he volumes compensate for the low margins he said. .n whether he regrets not having chosen the beaten path Kumar says 4+oday my batch mates want to emulate me but it is not the other way round.4