On the razor’s edge of enterprise with the Edison of India

People queuing up to see GD Naidu’s house built in 22 hours

On August 7, when the biopic GDN chronicling the life of Coimbatore inventor Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu releases, it will shine the spotlight on the work of the grassroots genius popularly known as Edison of India. Think of some of the essential early technologies in India and GDN had a hand in it, displaying ingenuity to invent indigenous solutions.  

On a visit to Europe, GD Naidu found himself working briefly in a bakery, where watching bread being sliced with a reciprocating blade — one that goes back and forth — sparked an idea that would eventually become the Rasant Electric Razor. The story goes — narrated in his son GD Gopal’s biography of Naidu — that he  returned to his room, dismantled a toy electric car, took out its motor, fastened it to a razor with rubber bands, and created a vibrating prototype. Friends who tried it praised the smooth shave and encouraged him to manufacture it commercially. 

According to Naidu’s grandson GD Rajkumar, who is Trustee, GD Naidu Charities, when an American company offered to purchase the razor patent, he refused out of ‘patriotic fervour’. The biography records that he wanted “the benefits of my efforts to accrue only to India”, reflecting his belief that innovation should strengthen the indigenous industry, rather than simply generate profit overseas. 

That philosophy extended beyond manufacturing. Rajkumar says Naidu established an intensive two-year polytechnic course because he believed there is nothing better than understanding how science works. The institution’s specialised technical courses, he said, had enabled many graduates to become entrepreneurs and establish workshops of their own. 

Naidu also encouraged industrial collaboration. Rajkumar recalled that when industrialists approached him to establish what would later become CODISSIA (Coimbatore District Small Industries Association), Naidu offered them space on his campus free of cost to help the association take shape. He similarly supported the Indian Chamber of Commerce by donating land for its building, believing that industry advanced through shared institutions as much as individual enterprise. 

many obstacles

Yet, his ambition to build industries in India often met bureaucratic obstacles. Akila Shanmugam, Trustee, GD Naidu Charities, recalled that his proposed collaboration to manufacture trucks in Coimbatore faced licensing and taxation hurdles. His battle with the Income Tax department prevented him from attaining most of the licences he required.  

Naidu ran into a similar wall years later. According to Shanmugam, he had purchased land and imported engines from Daimler-Benz — today Mercedes-Benz — to manufacture trucks in Coimbatore, but the plan collapsed after officials “levied a huge tax”. 

For Naidu, innovation began with curiosity — the instinct to question, observe and solve practical problems. From manufacturing components for his transport business to creating skill-based education, he believed learning came through doing, an approach that remains relevant as India looks to become a deep-tech manufacturing hub.

Published on July 21, 2026