Page 45 - Gujar Mal Modi

Modi. In 1938 a water supply system was laid by him to tackle the basic problem

of drinking water for the workmen employed in the factory. One medical officer
was also appointed to look after the health needs of the labour force and the

medical facilities available at the hospital were thrown open to the general pub-
lic.

The sugar factory provided only seasonal employment to labour and was not

conducive to the establishment of the industrial town envisaged by Mr. Modi. He
had been, therefore, on the lookout for some other factories in order to provide

year round employment to the workers and be able to give them an opportunity
to stay near the place of their employment. After considering several schemes

Mr. Modi decided to go in for a vanaspati manufacturing unit. He had already
toyed with this idea in 1928 at Patiala when his plans were frustrated because of

the refusal of the then Maharaja to grant him necessary permission. At Calcutta,
too, his plans in this regard had not materialised in 1932 because he was not able

to mobilise sufficient capital to establish the factory. A better opportunity came
his way in 1939. This was the time when Germany was engaged in hectic prepa-

rations for World War II. Transport of civil material at that time was given a very
low priority. However, Mr. Modi managed to import all the machinery needed

by him for establishing the factory, and by the end of June 1939 the new factory
started operating.

In those days the vanaspati manufactured and marketed by M/s. Lever Brothers,
Bombay (now M/s. Hindustan Lever Ltd.) was very popular and it was giving the

highest percentage of profit to the company. Their factory in India was the first
of its kind, and when the Modi Vanaspati Manufacturing company started func-

tioning, the management of the Lever Bros., did not like it. They offered to pur-
chase all the assets of the factory at double the amount of money invested. Mr.

Modi rejected the offer outright. This enraged the management of Lever Bros.,
who decided to force Mr. Modi into submission. The strategy of underselling

their product was adopted in the area served by Modi’s Kotogem and the result
was that in areas like Meerut and Ghaziabad vanaspati manufactured by Lever

Bros started selling at below-the-cost prices. Mr. Modi had anticipated this and
he also knew that if he could face this cut throat competition for some time, he

would be able to win. This competition went on for about a year and at the end

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