Mahatma Gandhi came to Uruli Kanchan on 22 March 1946, & stayed here for 7 days with his young disciple, Manibhai Desai. Manibhai, as has been mentioned before, was instrumental in totally transforming the village over many decades. His first major activity here was to open a Nature cure Ashram which continues to this day and is well known throughout India. This was followed by opening of Schools in Uruli. In 1967, he founded the Bharatiya Agro-Industries Foundation (BAIF). BAIF has been a pioneer in introducing the Indo-European hybrid cattle breed to India.