Anand Mahindra plans special SUVs; first to go to Avani Lekhara

Mahindra and Mahindra Chairperson Anand Mahindra said that he would like to dedicate and gift the first Mahindra SUV for those with disabilities to the 19-year old shooter Avani Lekhara, who became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics.

“A week ago Deepa Malik suggested that we develop SUVs for those with disabilities. Like the one she uses in Tokyo. I requested my colleague Velu, who heads Development to rise to that challenge. Well, Velu, I’d like to dedicate and gift the first one you make to Avani Lekhara,” Mahindra tweeted.

Mahindra’s tweet comes almost a week after he responded to a special request by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) President Deepa Malik. In his tweet, Mahindra said that he heard Deepa Malik’s request and will convey her challenge to his teammates at Mahindra Research Valley. He further added that companies like TrueAssist have already installed such systems in Mahindra’s cars and also conveyed his best wishes to the Paralympian contingent in Tokyo at the time.

The Arjuna Awardee Paralympian had requested automobile makers like Tata Motors, Mahindra and MG Motor in a video to manufacture special SUVs in India to make life of people with special abilities much easier while on road travel. She also mentioned in this video that she loves driving SUVs but getting in and out of an SUV is a challenge.

Avani Lekhara finished with a world record equaling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record. She is also the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold medal after swimmer Murlikant Petkar (1972), javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016) and high jumper Thangavelu Mariyappan (2016).

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

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Also read: Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Avani Lekhara first Indian woman to win gold at the event