'More from less for more' (MLM) may not sound familiar, but it's the MLM approach of Indian corporate leaders that has gained attention of the world.

Speaking at the 11th Prof Ramlal Parikh memorial lecture, organised by the Indian Society for Community Education, Raghunath Mashelkar, former director general of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, threw light on the need to follow the path shown by Gandhiji in order to serve millions of Indians whose income is lower than Rs100 per day. The topic of the lecture was 'Gandhian Engineering: More from Less for more'.

Mashelkar stressed on understanding the business model associated with Gandhian philosophy. "Gandhian engineering is our biggest gift to the world, and it makes perfect business sense not only for India, but also for the whole world" said Mashelkar, who firmly believes that a cheap product made for the poor will also get accepted by rich consumers but products made for rich will never be accepted by poor. "I know a sanitary napkin maker, whose cheap Rs5 napkins made for housemaids found huge market in Europe and US for its quality" said Mashelkar, who praised such CEOs for their vision to earn profits by catering to the under-privileged.

Mashelkar gave examples of some business leaders who have undertaken business keeping both the rich and poor. "Affordable car by Tata and cheap call rates of Reliance compelled the world to take notice. These companies earned profits by catering to the lowest sections of society" said Mashelkar.Kartikey Sarabhai of CEE stressed on the need to look for newer approaches to solve our problems. "A cow not giving milk is not unproductive, but there are thousands of such cows whose dung can be used as fertilizer or even means for energy generation" opined Kartikey Sarabhai, who firmly believes that new innovations are the key to India's growth.