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 Founder
of the Madras Rubber Factory (MRF), K.M. Mammen Mappillai
started off in 1946, with a toy balloon-manufacturing unit
at Tiruvottiyur, Chennai. In 1952, he began manufacture of
tread-rubber and MRF became market leader in this segment
within four years. Buoyed by this success, MRF began
manufacture of tyres in 1961. In 1964, the now-familiar
corporate mascot - the MRF Muscleman, was launched. MRF was
awarded the Visvesvaraiah Award for the Best Business House
in South India and the Economic Times Harvard Business
School Award for the Best Corporate Performance in 1989.
In 1993, K.M. Mammen Mappillai was awarded the Padmashri
Award for his contribution to industry - the only
industrialist from South India to be given this honour. In
1996, its Golden jubilee year, MRF's turnover crossed Rs 20
billion.
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