Name : K Pandu Ranga Rao
District & State : Medak, Telangana
Category : Utility
Award : National
Award Function : 9th National Grassroots Innovation Awards
Award Year : 2017
Innovator Profile
A mechanic by profession, Pandu Ranga Rao (33) has developed a sealant for motorcycle and auto rickshaw tyres to make it puncture resistant. The novelty in his sealant is that it is prepared using natural products, helps tyres resist more punctures and works equally good in hot summers and cool winters.
Pandu Ranga Rao, who has studied till only class ten, has an inborn talent for innovations. Due to his interest in repairing works and machines, he started a mechanic workshop in his village. He lives with his wife, two daughters and a son.
It was sometime in 2008, the innovator was returning home at night on his motorcycle from a friend’s place to his village, when his bike tyre got punctured. He was with his family and they had to walk 12km to reach home. It was then he started thinking of a solution. Conventionally to make a tyre puncture resistant, a sealant is filled in the tube along with some chemicals. However, heat patch is required to get the punctures repaired in these tubes. While the vehicle is being used, the chemicals keep moving inside the vehicle tyres, corroding it. Thus after 8-12 months of usage change of tubes is required. He started reviewing the different air sealants available in the market in order to understand the process in detail. Finally, he came up with a natural air sealant in 2012, which can resist punctures without damaging the tubes.
http://nif.org.in/innovation/natural-air-sealant-tyre-sealant/938