Chennai’s ‘Auto man’ opens business with Armenia

CHENNAI: Mansoor Ali Khan, the man behind Tamil Nadu’s eco-friendly initiative ‘M-Auto’ (Makkal Auto) is pushing boundaries, quite literally. The 30-year-old entrepreneur is all set to take electric autos to Armenia and will be presenting an M-auto, entirely manufactured in India, to the Armenian President shortly.

Coming from an IT background to venturing into a business which in his own words, he learned “on the go” over the years, this ‘auto man’s journey to Armenia’
is nothing short of inspiring.

In an interview with DC, the young entrepreneur talks about his unusual choice of business, his dreams of refining the society through his work and representing India on the global platform.

“I had little to no clue about the ‘auto’ industry when I started in 2013. I came on board for ‘Namma Auto’, (an initiative to promote safe and affordable rides, especially for women) only as an investor. Unfortunately, six months into the venture, I had to quit ‘Namma Auto’ due to personal reasons”, he says of his early days.

The auto sector, however, had piqued his interest and ‘Makkal Auto’ was conceived after that, says Khan. “The auto industry is one of the largest in our country with an annual turnover of Rs 25,000 crores. While other transport industries have continually evolved over time to suit present times and needs, this industry has not adapted to technology as of yet”, he avers.

So when Makkal Auto was founded, Khan says he aimed to reform this sector by introducing ‘retro-fit’ electric autos. “We never planned on introducing a new vehicle in the market. What we do is change old petrol-fuelled autos into electric ones by replacing the engine with lithium-ion batteries”, he explains.

His company continued to expand but real the turning point came in 2017 when he planned to drive the M auto trajectory beyond borders. “I was hugely surprised and mildly shocked by what I saw. Did you know that autos are used in over 70 countries? It is a billion-dollar business”, he quips. Thus began the journey of M autos in other nations, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, UAE, and Egypt.

Narrating his story of meeting the Armenian President, Khan says,  “I  was in Armenia with my proposal to introduce M autos in the country when I got an opportunity to explain the cultural significance of autos in India to the President. I later requested him to accept an M-auto as a present on India’s behalf, which he graciously accepted”. This M auto, entirely manufactured in India, will soon find a place in the Armenian president’s office.

In a prouder moment for India, M auto has also been entrusted with the task of helping the Armenian government draft the country’s first-ever electric vehicle policy.  “An MoU has been signed with the Armenian government. The venture comes under the President’s initiative and the government has already helped us set up a manufacturing company with over 200 engineers from the nation”.

Under this initiative, electric autos will be manufactured in Armenia to be used as the first official public transport in the nation. The autos manufactured here will be exported to neighbouring nations such as Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.  One hundred M autos will also be exported to the country from India, which will be the first-ever trade transaction between the two countries. Khan also hopes to provide employment to the Armenian women through this initiative.

Speaking about the challenges faced while designing autos for Armenia, he elaborates, “The climatic conditions of the two nations differ widely. Armenia has four months of extreme winter and we had to design tyres and batteries keeping that in mind.”

But these historic milestones mean little to Khan when compared to the satisfaction of giving back to the society, he says. A socially-conscious individual, Khan emphasises that money is only secondary to him.

“Money has never been the focus. I am more interested in creating a thriving livelihood for auto drivers, a community which has been frowned upon and neglected for long”, he says. His electric autos also aim to address pollution issues.” This is the reason why we opted for modifying the existing petrol-fuelled autos instead of introducing new ones. Through this, I hope, I can do my bit to change the environment for better”, he asserts.

M autos will soon be introduced in Bangladesh and Egypt among other countries. Khan’s gift to the Armenian president will be presented to him in a couple of months.