Page 80 - Gujar Mal Modi

For the benefit of the workers at Modinagar and people of neighbouring vil-

lages he has established a full-fledged Post-Graduate College, two Intermedi-
ate colleges, one Junior High School, a Women’s Training College and a chain of

Primary Schools which are providing education to 8,000 students. He has also
established a number of charitable trusts and has constructed Dharamshalas at

various centres of Pilgrimage. Shri Modi has rendered immense service in pro-
moting social welfare with the zeal of an ind ustrialist.”

The coveted award was followed by more honours. In April 1968, a public recep-

tion was arranged in his honour by the citizens of Bombay. He was nominated
Chairman of the Inter national Arbitration Council and his services were co-opt-

ed for various governmental bodies including the Planning Com mission, the
Central Excise Advisory Board, and the Uttar Pradesh Planning Board.

In July 1968 the Governor of Uttar Pradesh convened a meeting to discuss the
cause of widespread poverty in the state. In that meeting Mr. Modi gave a very

clear and forthright analysis of how the per capita income in U. P. had gone down
as compared to the all India average and how the system of sales tax and pow-

er tariffs as devised by the State Government were working to the detriment
of industrial development and had led to the migration of industries to other

States. This clear analysis was widely appreciated by those present at the meet-
ing. In October 1968 Mr. Modi presided over the meeting of the Federation of

Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry at Kanpur, the industrial town of
Uttar Pradesh.

The last achievement of Mr. Modi in the industrial field was the setting up of an

automobile tyre and tube factory under the name of Modi Rubber Ltd. in techni-
cal collaboration with Continental Gummi Werke A. G. Hannover, West Germany,

the world famous manufacturers of tyres and tubes. It was formally inaugurated
by Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the then President of India, at Modipuram, another

town founded by him 9 kms beyond Meerut. It is now fast developing as a model
town. The plant covers 70 acres of land and incorporates the most modern and

sophisticated machinery and West German technology to ensure the production
of quality tyres best suited to Indian road conditions. It has a licensed production

capacity of 400,000 units annually. It has been designed to process 16,000 tons
of rubber compound into tyres and tubes per annum. On achieving its full rated

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