BIRLA CEMENT

INDUSTRY PROFILE

Indian Cement Industry An Overview

1. Indian cement industry dates back to 1914 - first unit was set-up at Porbandar, with a capacity of 1000 tonnes.

2. Currently India is ranked second in the world with an installed capacity of 114.2 Million tonnes. Industry estimated at around Rs. 18,000 crores (US $ 4185 mn).

3. Current per capita consumption - 85 kgs, as against world standard of 256 kgs.

4. Cement grade limestone in the country reported to be 89 bt. A large proportion however is unexploitable.

5. 55 - 60% of the cost of production are government controlled

6. Cement sales primarily through a distribution channel. Bulk sales account for < 1% of the total cement produced.

7. Ready mix concrete a relatively nascent market in India. Installed Capacity The Indian cement industry is the second largest producer of quality cement, which meets global standards. The cement industry comprises 130 large cement plants with an installed capacity of 160.24 million tonnes and more than 365 mini cement plants with an estimated capacity of 11.10 million tonnes making a total installed capacity of 171.34 million tonnes.

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INTRODUCTION
What is cement?

Cement is a mixture of limestone, Clay, Silica and Gypsum. It is a fine powder which when mixed with water sets to a hard mass as a result of hydration of the constituent compounds. It is the most commonly used construction material. Cement is manufactured by burning a mixture of limestone and Clay at high temperatures in a kiln, and then finely grinding the resulting clinker along with Gypsum. The end product thus obtained is called Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Different Types of Cement There are different varieties of cement based on different compositions according to specific end uses, namely Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozolona Cement, Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement, White Cement and Specialized Cement. The basic difference lies in the percentage of clinker used. 1. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC): OPC, popularly known as grey cement, has 95% clinker and 5% of Gypsum and other materials. It accounts for 70% of the total consumption. White cement is a variation of OPC and is used for decorative purposes like rendering of walls, flooring etc. It contains a very low proportion of iron oxide. Ordinary Portland cement is the most commonly used cement for a wide range of applications. These applications cover dry-lean mixes, general-purpose ready-mixes, and even high strength pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete. 2. Portland Pozolona Cement (PPC): Portland pozzolana cement is Ordinary Portland Cement blended with pozzolanic materials (power-station fly ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt plant material or Siliceous earths), either Page 2

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together or separately. Portland clinker is ground with Gypsum and Pozzolanic materials which, though they do not have cementing properties in themselves, combine chemically with Portland cement in the presence of water to form extra strong cementing material which resists wet cracking, thermal cracking and has a high degree of cohesion and workability in concrete. PPC has 80% clinker, 15% pozolona and 5% gypsum and accounts for 18% of the total cement consumption. It is cheaply manufactured because it uses fly ash/burnt clay/coal waste as the main ingredient. It has a lower heat of hydration, which helps in preventing cracks where large volumes are being cast. 3. Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement (PBFSC): PBFSC consists of 45% clinker, 50% blast furnace slag and 5% Gypsum and accounts for 10% of the total cement consumed. It has a heat of hydration even lower than PPC and is generally used in construction of dams and similar massive constructions. Portland blastfurnace slag cement contains up to 70 per cent of finely ground, granulated blast-furnace slag, a nonmetallic product consisting essentially of Silicates and Aluminum-silicates of Calcium. Slag brings with it the advantage of the energy invested in the slag making. Grinding slag for cement replacement takes only 25 per cent of the energy needed to manufacture Portland cement. Using slag cement to replace a portion of Portland cement in a concrete mixture is a useful method to make concrete better and more consistent. Portland blast-furnace slag cement has a lighter colour, better concrete workability, easier finish ability, higher compressive and flexural strength, lower permeability, improved resistance to aggressive chemicals and more consistent plastic and hardened consistency. 4. White Cement: White Portland cement has essentially the same properties as gray cement, except for color, which is a very important quality control issue in the industry. It is manufactured using fuel oil (instead of coal) and with iron oxide content below 0.4% to ensure whiteness. Special cooling technique is used. It is used to enhance aesthetic value, in tiles and for flooring. White cement is much more expensive than grey cement.

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5. Specialized Cement: Oil Well Cement: is made from clinker with special additives to prevent any porosity. Rapid Hardening Portland cement: It is similar to OPC, except that it is ground much finer, so that on casting, the compressible strength increases rapidly. Water Proof Cement: OPC, with small portion of calcium stearate or non-saponifibale oil to impart waterproofing properties.

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Capacity and Production

The cement industry comprises of 125 large cement plants with an installed capacity of 148.28 million tonnes and more than 300 mini cement plants with an estimated capacity of 11.10 million tonnes per annum. The Cement Corporation of India, which is a Central Public Sector Undertaking, has 10 units. There are 10 large cement plants owned by various State Governments. The total installed capacity in the country as a whole is 159.38 million tonnes. Actual cement production in 2008-09 was 116.35 million tonnes as against a production of 106.90 million tonnes in 2007-08, registering a growth rate of 8.84%.

Keeping in view the trend of growth of the industry in previous years, a production target of 126 million tonnes has been fixed for the year 2009-10. During the period AprilJune 2009, a production (provisional) was 31.30 million tonnes. The industry has achieved a growth rate of 4.86 per cent during this period. The graph above shows the consumption of cement in different areas of housing, infrastructure and industries.

Exports Apart from meeting the entire domestic demand, the industry is also exporting cement and clinker. The export of cement during 2007-08 and 2008-09 was 5.14 million tonnes and 6.92 million tonnes respectively. Export during April-May, 2009 was 1.35 million tonnes. Major exporters were Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. and L&T Ltd.

Recommendations on Cement Industry For the development of the cement industry Working Group on Cement Industry was constituted by the Planning Commission for the formulation of X Five Year Plan. The Working Group has projected a growth rate of 10% for the cement industry during the plan period and has projected creation of additional capacity of 40-62 million tonnes mainly through expansion of existing plants. The Working Group has identified following thrust areas for improving demand for cement; Page 5

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(i) (ii) (iii)

Further push to housing development programs; Promotion of concrete Highways and roads; and Use of ready-mix concrete in large infrastructure projects.

Further, in order to improve global competitiveness of the Indian Cement Industry, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion commissioned a study on the global competitiveness of the Indian Industry through an organization of international repute, viz. KPMG Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. The report submitted by the organization has made several recommendations for making the Indian Cement Industry more competitive in the international market. The recommendations are under consideration.

Technology Up-gradation

Cement industry in India is currently going through a technological change as a lot of upgradation and assimilation is taking place. Currently, almost 93% of the total capacity is based entirely on the modern dry process, which is considered as more environment-friendly. Only the rest 7% uses old wet and semi-dry process technology.

Cement Despatches

Cement industry in India has successfully maintained almost total capacity utilization levels, which resulted in maintaining a 10% growth rate. In 2006-07, the total despatch was 155 MT, which rose up to 170 MT in 2007-08. The month of October 2009 saw a cement despatch of 12.22 MT, which was almost 9% higher than the total cement despatch of 11.21 MT in the same month in the previous year. 2008-09 (Apr-Oct) (in MT) 101.04 100.24 1.46 2007-08 (Apr-Oct) in MT 95.05 94.33 2.16 Page 6

Production Dispatches (Excluding Export) Export

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Capacity Utilization (%)

85

93

Major Players in Indian Cement Industry

There are a number of players prevailing in the cement industry in India. However, there are around 20 big names that account for more than 70% of the total cement production in India. The total installed capacity is distributed over around 129 plants, owned by 54 major companies across the nation.

Following are some of the major names in the Indian cement industry:

Company ACC Gujarat Ambuja Ultratech Grasim India Cements JK Group Jaypee Group Century Madras Cements Birla Corp.

Production 17,902 15,094 13,707 14,649 8,434 6,174 6,316 6,636 4,550 5,150

Installed Capacity 18,640 14,860 17,000 14,115 8,810 6,680 6,531 6,300 5,470 5,113

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Mergers and Acquisitions in Cement Industry in India UltraTech Cement is going to absorb its sister concern Samruddhi Cement to become biggest cement company in India. World's leading foreign funds like HSBC, ABN Amro, Fidelity, Emerging Market Fund and Asset Management Fund have together bought 7.5% of India Cements (ICL) at a cost of US$ 124.91 million. Cimpor, a Cement company of Portugal, has bought 53.63% stake that Grasim Industries had in Shree Digvijay Cement. French cement company Vicat SA bought 6.67% share of Sagar Cement at a cost of US$ 14.35 million. Holcim now holds 56% stake of Ambuja Cement. Previously it held 22% of stake. The company utilized various open market transactions to increase its stakes. It invested US$ 1.8 billion for that. Recent Investments in the Indian Cement Industry

In a recent announcement, the second largest cement company in South India, Dalmia Cement declared that it's going to invest more than US$ 652.6 million in the next 2-3 years to add 10 MT capacity.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure is going to build up cement plants with a total capacity of yearly 20 MT in the next 5 years. For this, the company will invest US$ 2.1 billion.

India Cements is going to set up 2 thermal power plants in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu at a cost of US$ 104 billion.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Cementation is also going to set up a 5 MT integrated cement plant in Maharashtra. It will invest US$ 463.2 million for that.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd has signed a MoU with Assam Mineral Development Corporation Limited to set up a 2 MT cement plant. The estimated project cost is US$ 221.36 million.

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State wise Capacity

As cement is a low value commodity, freight costs assume a significant proportion of the final cost. Transporting costs render the prices of cement in distant destinations uncompetitive. For instance, it is financially infeasible to transport cement by road over 250 kms. Railways are mostly used to transport cement over longer distances. However, its bulky nature and infrastructure bottlenecks render even rail transport unviable over very long distances (that is why Madras Cements or India Cements, located in the south, can hardly make a difference to the fortunes of west-based companies like Gujarat Ambuja). Therefore, manufacturers tend to sell cement at the nearest market first and sell in distant markets only if additional realization is greater than freight costs incurred. This is the reason for showing regional demand rather than state demand in case of cement.

Region wise Capacity

The Indian cement industry has to be viewed in terms of five regions: North (Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, J&K and Uttranchal); West (Maharashtra and Gujarat); South (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Goa); East (Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh); and Central (Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh).

Northern Region Punjab Delhi Haryana 2173.34 500.00 172.00

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Himachal Pradesh Rajasthan J&K TOTAL West Maharashtra Gujarat TOTAL South Tamil Nadu Andra Pradesh Karnataka Kerala TOTAL East Bihar Orissa West Bengal Assam Meghalaya Jharkhand Chattisgarh TOTAL Central U.P. M.P. TOTAL

4060.00 16299.34 200.00 23404.68

8950.00 12937.00 21887.00

12913.18 19831.02 9744.00 420.00 42908.20

1000.00 2761.00 2291.66 400.00 3475.01 11287.33 21215.00

6297.00 16185.00 20482.00

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South accounts for 33.03% of cement production capacity of the country, with Andra Pradesh accounting for 15.27% of the total production capacity of India. It has an installed capacity of around 20mn tons of cement and ranks first in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu with 9.94% of the total production capacity. North accounts for 18.02% of the total production capacity, with Rajasthan at 12.55% of the total production capacity of the country. West accounts for 16.85% of the total production capacity. Maharashtra and Gujarat have production capacity of 6.89% and 9.96% respectively. East and Central Regions account for 16.33% and 15.77% of the total production capacity of the country respectively. Trade between these regions is on a very low scale mainly because of the transportation bottlenecks and uncompetitive cost of transportation. The Southern region dominated the cement consumption at 44.5 million tonnes in FY 08-09, accounting for about 30% of total domestic cement consumption. During FY 08-09, Southern region has witnessed highest CAGR of cement demand growth at 10.4% followed by Northern and Eastern regions at 8.9% and 9%, respectively

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Mechanics of Distribution Channels of Sector

Companies invariably hire agents or transport cements to own or government warehouses either via roadway or railways. Incase of exports, cement reaches the nearest port via roadways or railways and is then transferred to the importing country. Domestically, from agents or warehouses the cement is transported to the dealers/distributors and in turn to sub dealers who finally sell it to the end users. There may or may not be physical ownership of goods. In the second case, dealers and sub dealers take order from buyers and place it to the companies, co ordinate and monitor the timely dispatch of said orders,

Energy and Transport Requirements

The cement industry is dependent on three major infrastructural sectors of the economy: coal, power and transport. The inputs from these three sectors account for roughly 50% of the cost of cement. Both the availability and the cost of these inputs have a vital bearing on the fortunes of the cement players. All these sectors are largely in the State sector, and, historically cement companies have had virtually no control on the cost or availability of these inputs. Hence, the industry response has largely been in the form of achieving efficiency gains and finding alternatives (captive power, use of waterways). One additional external influencer of the cement industry performance is the taxes and levies imposed by the Central and State Governments. This together account for around 30% of the selling price of cement in the Indian context.

The shortage in domestic coal production coupled with the poor quality has resulted in cement companies resorting to importing coal, or going in for open market purchase of coal, or using alternative fuel such as lignite or pet coke.

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Use of imported coal has become an essential feature of the Indian cement industry and has shown a rising trend during the last few years.

Power and Fuel cost form the largest proportion of the cost structure. This reflects the effects of the trend in rising global oil and fuel prices. On the other hand Employee costs form the smallest proportion of over all cost. This is essentially because cement industry is a very capital intensive industry. This also accounts for the huge depreciation and interest costs which accrue on the plant and machinery. Moreover, the labour employed is essentially semiskilled excluding the top management which brings down labour costs.

Government Policies
Government policies have affected the growth of cement plants in India in various stages. The control on cement for a long time and then partial decontrol and then total decontrol has contributed to the gradual opening up of the market for cement producers. The stages of growth of the cement industry can be best described in the following stages:

Price and Distribution Controls (1940-1981):

During the Second World War, cement was declared as an essential commodity under the Defense of India Rules and was brought under price and distribution controls which resulted in sluggish growth. The installed capacity reached only 27.9 MT by the year 198081.

Prices
The regional variation in the Indian market has resulted in the cement prices across regions witnessing movement within a band, with no appreciable increase in any region. Differences in regional demand supply situation have translated into price differences across regions. Prices are lower in Southern regions where there is normally a supply surplus. However, prices are higher in Eastern and Western regions where shortages exist. The surplus position had resulted in significant pressure on price realizations in recent years. Page 13

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The cyclical trough in the late-1990s had a severe impact on the industry financials. However, cement prices have firmed up during the last few years due to improvement in demand-supply position and increasing consolidation in the industry. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for cement increased 3.9% during FY2007-08, as compared with a growth of 1.2% during FY2006-07. The WPI for March 2008-09 was 11% higher than the WPI for March 2007-08.

Margins
Cement prices have firmed up during the last few years due to improvement in demand-supply position and increasing consolidation in the industry. The trend in gross sales realization is similar for the cement companies in our sample (comprising pure cement companies accounting for around two-thirds of industry production and sales).

The operating profits and margins for cement companies are most sensitive to cement sales realizations. During FY2008-09, riding on high average sales realizations, the cement Page 14

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companies posted increased operating profits and margins. This reversed the decline in operating profits and margins during FY2007-08. This was mainly because of excess capacity and the consequent low price realizations. While sales volume of the sample companies improved 7%, operating income (OI) increased 24.2% to Rs. 183.45 billion

Returns
The key driver of profitability is cement prices, which fluctuate depending on outlook on demand-supply gaps. The fluctuating fortunes of the Indian cement industry are very typical of a commodity industry. The companies make bumper returns during the boom years (FY1994-96, and FY2005-08) while the performance goes down drastically during the lean years (FY1997-2001 and FY 2009-na). The returns have improved significantly since FY2003 because of higher capacity utilizations, operational efficiency and cost control Page 15

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measures supplemented with higher sales realizations. But at the present scenario have reduced during the first quarter of FY 2009 and is still going to continue for few more years.

The Indian cement industry has undergone vital changes through technological changes in the pursuit of cost efficiency and drive for consolidations. Most of the companies are making profits. Peer Comparison

Company

P/E Market Cap (TTM) (Rs. in Cr.) (x)

P/BV EV/EBIDTA ROE (TTM) (x) (%) (x)

ROCE (%)

D/E (x)

Ambuja Cem. ACC Samruddhi Cem. UltraTech Cem. Shree Cement Birla Corpn. Prism Cement Binani Cement J K Cements Heidelberg Cem. JK Lakshmi Cem. OCL India Sanghi Inds. Mangalam Cement Sh. Digvijay Cem

16,446.59 15,243.55 12,111.86 10,447.20 6,549.75 2,773.13 2,675.36 1,642.06 1,241.96 1,091.18 847.34 706.98 522.45 469.22 225.49

12.35 9.49 19.82 9.68 9.03 5.28 10.94 6.00 5.67 8.16 3.66 4.32 19.47 4.07 4.33

2.54 2.53 2.64 2.27 3.57 1.56 2.29 2.43 1.14 1.55 0.86 0.89 0.77 1.23 2.61

7.11 5.90 0.00 7.60 3.44 4.07 7.16 3.87 4.70 2.57 3.40 3.13 6.52 2.00 5.36

20.0 29.4 23.3 26.6 61.4 36.4 27.4 49.0 22.6 19.0 27.2 19.1 8.4 35.4 29.6

23.9 40.0 24.7 28.5 34.0 38.9 31.2 32.8 21.0 24.2 22.7 17.8 8.2 53.4 16.9

0.04 0.10 0.55 0.46 1.50 0.32 0.44 1.58 0.82 0.01 0.92 1.00 1.39 0.04 0.33

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Export of cement from India

The Indian cement industry exported around 6 mt of cement during FY2008-09, accounting for around 4% of the total production. There has been a significant year on year variation in the export trend, implying that Companies rely on cement exports to balance out the domestic demand supply situation. As seen from above there is excess production, so the difference in supply and demand is met by exporting. The export of Indian cement has increased over the years, giving a boost to the Indian cement industry.

The demand for cement in the foreign countries is a derived demand, for it depends on industrial activity, real estate, and construction activity. Since growth is taking place all over the world in these sectors, Indian export of cement is also increasing.

The cement industry in India has around 300 mini cement plants and 130 large cement plants. The total production capacity of these plants is around 167.36 million tons. The India cement industry is technologically very advanced, as a result of which the quality of Indian cement is now considered the second best in the world. This has given a major boost to the Indian export of cement. The production of cement in India is not only able to meet the domestic demand, but large amounts are also exported. A fair amount of clinker and cement by-products are also exported by India. As the quality of Indian cement is very good, its demand in the international market is always high.

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The graph shows that the production of cement in India is at 2nd place after China, this higher production is a good reason for exporting cement. In 2008-2009, 3.38 million tons of cement was exported from India. That figure stood at 3.47 million tons in 2006-07, and 3.36 million tons in 2007-08. In 2006-2007, 1.76 million tons of clinker was exported from India. In 2007- 2008 clinker exports amounted to 3.45 million tons, and in 2008- 2009 the figure stood at 5.64 million tons. This shows that the export of Indian cement has been increasing at a steady pace over the years.

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Indian Technology Advantage

The manufacturing process of cement consists of the mixing, drying and grinding of limestone, clay and silica into a composite mass. The mixture is then heated and burnt in a pre-heater and kiln to be cooled in an air cooling system to form clinker, which is the Semifinished form. This clinker is cooled by air and subsequently ground with gypsum to form cement. The dry

and semidry processes are fuelefficient. The process requires 0.28 tonne of coal and 110 kWh of power to manufacture one tonne of cement, whereas the dry process requires only 0.18 tonnes of coal and 100 kWh of power. Coal and power costs account for 35 per cent of the total cement production costs. With 95 per cent of the total capacity based on the modern dry process technology, the Indian cement industry has become more cost efficient. wet more

Top companies in the cement industry match quite well with world standards in terms of energy (thermal energy Kcal/kg of clinker - India 665 against 690 of Japan) and pollution norms (SPM of 40 in India against 20 in Japan). Page 20

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COMPANY PROFILE

Birla Corporation Limited is the flagship Company of the M.P. Birla Group. Incorporated as Birla Jute Manufacturing Company Limited in 1919, it was Late Mr. Madhav Prasad Birla who gave shape to it. As Chairman of the Company, Mr. Madhav Prasad Birla transformed it from a manufacturer of jute goods to a leading multiproduct corporation with widespread activities. Under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Priyamvada Birla, the Company crossed the Rs. 1300 - crore turnover mark and the name was changed to Birla Corporation Limited in 1998.

After the demise of Mrs. Priyamvada Birla, the Company continued to consolidate in terms of profitability, competitiveness and growth under the leadership of Mr. Rajendra S. Lodha, late Chairman the M.P. Birla Group. Under his leadership, the Company posted its best ever results in the years ended 31.3.2006, 31.3.2007 and 31.3.2008. of

The Company continued to record impressive growth in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Mr H V Lodha is now Chairman of the Company.

Birla Corporation Limited has products ranging from cement to jute goods, PVC floor covering, as well as auto trims (jute felt-based car interiors).

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Subsidiaries

Birla Jute Supply Company Limited Talavadi Cements Limited Lok Cements Limited Budge Budge Floorcoverings Limited Thiruvaiyaru Industries Limited Birla Cement (Assam) Limited Birla North East Cement Limited New-Age Cement Limited M.P. Birla Group Services Private Limited

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Product Mix of Birla cement:

The company manufactures a wide range of premium brands of cement, catering to different needs of customers. Special Cements

Sulphate Resistant Cement IS 12330 Low-alkali Cement Railway Sleeper Grade Cement IRS T-40 (OPC 53S) Low Heat Cement IS 12600

Birla cement production units: Cement is the flag ship division of Birla corporation limited. Nearly 89% of BCLS turnover comes from cement division, which has six plants with an installed capacity of 47.80 lakh tons. Of the sis plants, two each are located at Satna(M.P) and chanderia( Rajasthan) while theres one at Durgapur(WB) and other at Raebareli(UP).

The plants have access to latest technology and infrastructure and rate amongst the most advanced in the country.

All the plants have received ISO:9001-2000 quality management system (QMS) for manufacture and supply of cement &clinker from TUV- Germnay. It has also received ISO: 14001 environment management system(EMS) from bureau of Indian standard(BIS) New Delhi.

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The Product and Brand names are as follows

Units Birla Cement Works Chanderia Cement Works

Products

BIS Specifications

Brand names Birla Cement Samrat Birla Cement Chetak

Portland Pozzolana IS 1489 (Part - I) Cement (PPC) 43 Gr - IS 8043 Ordinary Portland 53 Gr - IS 12269 Cement (OPC) 43 Gr, 53 Gr

Satna Cement PPC Works OPC (43 Gr.) Birla Vikas Cement Raebareli Cement Works Durgapur Cement Works PPC

IS 1489 (Part - I) Birla Cement IS 8043 Samrat Birla Cement Khajuraho IS 1489 (Part - I) Birla Cement Samrat Birla Cement Birla Premium Cement Birla Cement Samrat

Portland Slag IS 455 Cement (PSC) IS 1489 (Part - I)

Durga Hitech PPC Cement

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Brands of cement
Birla cement samrat (special features) Higher finesse for improved workability Resistance to alkali-aggregate reaction Low heat of hydration resulting in reduction in cracking. Improved resistance to sulphate attack Higher long-term strength over OPC.

Birla cement samrat PREMIUM (special features) High compressive strength up to 57 Mpa Superfine cement for improved workability Excellent finish of mortar and concrete surface Compatible with Indian climatic conditions. Improved resistance to sulphate attack

Birla cement khajuraho\chetak -43 grade Brick and tone masonry Plastering and flooring For ready-mix concrete Plain and reinforced cement concrete Pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete

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Birla cement khajuraho\chetak-53 grade Pre-stressed girders and electric poles M 25 and concrete Roads, runways, industrial buildings, RCC bridges All types of general construction

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The Various Units located across the country:

State Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan West Bengal Uttar Pradesh

Town Satna

Units

Capacity Mill. Ts

Satna Cement Works / Birla Vikas 1.55 Cement

Chanderia Birla Cement Works / Chanderia Cement 2.29 Works Durgapur Durgapur Cement Works / Durga Hitech 1.60 Cement Raebareli Raebareli Cement Works 0.63

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SALES TURNOVER
All the seven cement manufacturing Units, spread over West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have performed satisfactorily in spite of stoppages related to expansion and modernization activities. The level of production was maintained by procuring clinker from domestic and foreign sources. During the year 2009-10, the Company achieved its highest ever production of cement at5.70 million tonnes.

Net sales

Sales (Rs. in crores)

2,500.00 2,000.00 1,500.00 1,000.00 500.00 0.00 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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COMPANYS VISION & MISSION

Birla Cement Vision

Customerization Quality consistency Product range Cost competitiveness Employee empowerment

Birla Cement Mission:

To become the best cement unit in the country through human and technical excellence. To foster the culture of involvement, participation, team work and innovation. To achieve excellence in all effort and activities by each one of us. To produce a premium quality cement and extend best service to its customers. To establish a neat clean and pollution free environment. Community should perceive us a progressive well professional organization. \

Integrity
We define integrity as honesty in every action. We shall act and take decisions in a manner that these are fair, honest and follow the highest standards of professionalism. Integrity shall be the cornerstone for all our dealings, be it with our customers, our employees, suppliers, our partners, shareholders, the communities we serve or the government.

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Commitment
On the foundation of integrity, we see commitment as doing whatever it takes to deliver as promised. Each one of us shall take ownership for our own work, teams and the part of the organization we responsible for. Through this value, we shall build an even sharper results-oriented culture that is high on reliability accountability. Our commitment is likely to make us a formidable leader and competitor in every market that we are in.

Passion
We define passion as a missionary zeal arising out of an omotional engagement with work, which inspires each one to give his or her best.All We define passion as a missionary zeal arising out of an emotional engagement with work, which inspires each one to give his or her best. All of us are expected to be enthusiastic in the pursuit of our goals and objectives. We shall recruit and actively encourage employees with a fire in belly. With this value, we hope to build a culture of innovation and breakthrough thinking, leading to superior customer satisfaction and value creation.

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PORTERS 5-FORCE MODEL FOR CEMENT INDUSTRY

THREAT FOR ENTRANTS:

The high capital costs acts as a major entry barrier for the entry of new players. The high freight costs make it difficult to import cement. Cement being a high volume low value commodity results in high freight costs, which makes cement imports economically unfeasible. Domestic Cement industry is highly insulated from global cement markets. With GoI intervention, making cement duty free, cement is being imported from neighboring countries. However, due to logistics issues and lack of port handling capabilities, imports of cement will remain negligible and do not pose a threat to domestic industry.

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BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS:

The major inputs are coal and power. The Prices of both coal and power are determined by the government. To mitigate the high costs of power the cement players have set up captive power plants.

COMPETITIVE RIVALRY BETWEEN EXISTING PLAYERS:

Previously the rivalry was strong among the players, as the industry was not consolidated. During the last few years the industry has become more consolidated with the Top 3 players having a combined market share of 49 percent in 2008-09 as compared to 32 percent in 2007-2008.

BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS:

Retail sales constitute about 80 percent of the total sales and the rest is institutional sales. The retail buyers dont have any bargaining power while the institutional buyers get a discount of 5 to 10 percent as they buy cement in bulk.

THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES:
There are no good substitutes for cement.

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

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The Board of Directors

The Birla Corporation Private Limited is the Group's apex decision making body and

provides strategic direction to Group companies. Its Board of Directors comprises:

Mr. Harsh V. Lodha chairman Mr. N. K. Kejriwal

Mr.

Pracheta Majumdar

Mr. Vikram Swarup

Mr. Anand Bordia

Mr. B B Tandon

Mr. D N Ghosh

Mr Deepak Nayyar

Mr M K Sharma

Mr. B R Nahar

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ORGANIZATIONS DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTS

Finance Department
Finance is backbone of any organization without which no organization can undertake any activities concerning the organization. It is a fascinating subject that deals with end result and these end results are measurable in terms of money. It is dynamic and changing. It deals with all the facts of Business-production, sales, purchasing, personnel etc. This has to be managed actually to yield long term results. Finance necessary is accumulated for the starting of company and then they are at a later stage allocated to all the facts of business as mentioned above as per requirements specified in the financial policy. The Company has raised funds through issue of Secured Redeemable NonConvertible Debentures aggregating to Rs.370 crores on private placement basis. The funds have been utilized for general corporate purposes.

DIVIDEND
The Company has paid an interim dividend of Rs.2.50 per share (i.e. 25%) on ordinary shares during the year. Your Directors are pleased to recommend a final dividend ofRs.3.50 per share (i.e. 35%) on ordinary shares for the year ended 31st March, 2010. Thusthe aggregate dividend for the year ended 31st March, 2010 works out to Rs.6.00 per share(60%) aggregating to Rs.53.95 crores including Corporate Dividend Tax of Rs.7.75 crores as compared to Rs.40.54 crores (including Corporate Dividend Tax of Rs.5.89 crores) in the previous year.

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Marketing Department

MARKETING MANAGEMENT PROCESS ADOPTED BY BIRLA CORPORATION In the field of marketing management process, it basically consists of four steps: 1. Analyzing marketing opportunities 2. Selecting target markets 3. Developing the marketing mix 4.Managing the marketing effort

MARKETING RESEARCH AT BIRLA CEMENT

Marketing research is a systematic gathering recording and analysis of data about the problems relating to the marketers of goods and services. Thus it includes investigation of market, segments, and products. The market research answers the questions in respect of different markets. The areas of market research are: Determining the size of both current and also potential market. Assessing the market brands. Ascertaining the strength and weakness of competitors. The current contemplated legislations of the government towards the particular product, including taxation policy Demand and sales forecast

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Human Resource Department

Human Resource Management is a process of creating and providing opportunities to the members of a company for developing and optimally utilizing their potentials in various productive works. It is also the management of human resources in an organization and is concerned with the creation of harmonious working relationship and bringing about their utmost individual development. The main objectives of personnel function are to create attitude that motivates a group to achieve its goal economically and speedily. The Company had 9954 employees on its rolls as at the close of business hours on 31stMarch, 2010. Relations with the employees were cordial at all the Units barring suspensionof operations since 29th March, 2004 at Soorah Jute Mills and a strike for 62 days from14.12.2009 to 13.02.2010 by the workers of Birla Jute Mills in response to the strike call given by the Central Trade Unions and the Federation of Trade Unions operating in the jute mills in West Bengal.

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Research & Development Department

Research & Development Department is the back-bone of an organization. It helps the organizations in developing new products and means to meet the need of customers in an effective way. It also shows how open is an organization towards the change. In Birla following functions are done by the R & D department:

Able to meet customers enhanced requirements above R & D Able to meet shorter turnaround times demanded by customer Automated tools helped to meet extra volume of production and new customer requirements Maintaining leadership as a technologically advanced supplier Customized Production & Project Management tools development for customers Able to acquire new projects which involves project management Providing value added services to the customers and bringing-in additional projects. Introducing new workflow and systems as per customers requirements

Supply Chain Department

The team orders and maintains the inventory of stock keeping units so that unit does not run out of critical supplies at any point.

The team also ensures that all stock keeping units of items used in the unit are received at stores from vendors and distributed to the different outlets on time. Other functions include:

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Distribution Function Configuration: Number, location and network missions of suppliers, production facilities, distribution centers, warehouses, cross-docks and customers.

Distribution Strategy: Includes functions of operating control (centralized, decentralized or shared), delivery scheme (e.g., direct shipment, pool point shipping, Cross Docking, DSD (direct store delivery). Information: Integration of and other processes through the supply chain to share valuable information, including demand signals, forecasts, inventory, transportation, and potential collaboration etc. Inventory Management: Quantity and location of inventory including raw materials, work-inprocess and finished goods

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SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:

Cement demand has grown in tandem with strong economic growth; derived from:
-Growth in housing sector (over 30%) key demand driver; -Infrastructure projects like ports, airports, power projects, dam and irrigation projects -National Highway Development Program -Bharat Nirman Yojana for rural infrastructure -Rise in industrial projects -Export potential also demand driver

Capacity utilization over 90%

WEAKNESS:

Cement Industry is highly fragmented Industry is also highly regionalized Low value commodity makes transportation over long distances un-economical

OPPORTUNITIES: With the boost given by the Central Government and the private sector to various infrastructure projects, road network, housing facilities and Mega Power Projects, growth in the cement consumption is anticipated to continue in the coming years.

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THREATS:

Government intervention to adjust cement prices Possibility of over bunching of capacities in the long term as some of the players have already announced new capacities

Transportation cost is scaling high; bottleneck due to loading restrictions Coal prices climbing up; industry players say current shortage of coal in the country is estimated to be over 10 million tones.

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AWARDS FOR BIRLA CORPORATION

The Company has been included in the prestigious "Best under a Billion" list by Forbes and is one of the 20 Indian companies featured this year. Birla Corporation Limited has been selected by the editors of Forbes as one of the best companies with revenues of less than $ 1 billion based on its track record of consistent profitability, growth and best corporate practices over a three-year period. The fifth annual "Best under a Billion" list comprises the top 200 companies, picked up from more than25,326 publicly-listed firms with sales of less than $ 1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. The recognition came at a very opportune time for Birla Corporation Limited since it is one of the oldest cement manufacturing companies in India and is currently celebrating 50 years in the cement business.

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AWARD EARNED BY SCW AND BVC

S. NO. AWARDS 1.

AWARDED BY

YEAR

UNIT

Best Energy Performance NCB, New Award

Delhi and 1986-87 BVC

Ministry of Power Govt. 1993-94 SCW of India 1994-95 SCW 1995-96 SCW 1996-97 SCW 1997-98 SCW

2.

Fuller Energy Conservation M.P. Chamber of Cement 1997-98 SCW Award Manufactures Association. 1998-99 SCW 1999-00 SCW 2001-02 SCW

1997-98 BVC 1998-99 BVC

3.

Best Productivity Award

National

Productivity 1987-88 BVC

Council, New Delhi

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4.

Export Award

CAPEXIL, Kolkata

1990-91 BVC 1991-92 BVC 1993-94 SCW 1994-95 BVC 1996-97 BVC 1997-98 BVC 2001-02 BVC BVC &

S. NO. AWARDS

AWARDED BY

YEAR

UNIT

5.

National Safety Award

Ministry Of Labour, Govt 1994 of India

BVC

6.

ISO-9001 Management

for

quality RWTUV, Germany

Since July 1994 Renewed every year

SCW BVC

&

7.

IS

ISO-14001

for BIS, New Delhi

Since Sept. 1999 Renewed every 3 year

SCW BVC

&

Environment Management

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8.

Sagmania Award

Mines

Safety DGMS

1997-98

9.

Mines Mineral

Environment

& ISM, Dhanbad

1997-98 2002-03

conservation

Overall Performance 10. Best Energy Conservation Implementation Award Gold Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Oct 2004 SCW National Award

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Introduction

Promotion
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution). It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision.

There are seven main aspects of a promotional mix these are:

Advertising - Any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard, direct mail, brochures and catalogs, signs, in-store displays, posters, motion pictures, Web pages, banner ads, and emails.

Personal Selling - A process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation. Examples: Sales presentations, sales meetings, sales training and incentive programs for intermediary salespeople, samples, and telemarketing. Can be face-to-face or via telephone.

Sales promotion - Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples: Coupons, sweepstakes, contests, product samples, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.

Public relations - Paid intimate stimulation of supply for a product, service, or business unit by planting significant news about it or a favorable presentation of it in the media. Examples: Newspaper and magazine articles/reports, TVs and radio presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars.

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Corporate image - The Image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing. If the reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.

Direct Marketing is often listed as a the fifth part of the marketing mix Exhibitions - are try-outs. You make your product, and let potential buyers try the product, this way, you know directly what people see in your product. The downside, your competitor can see exactly what you are doing.

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Marketing mix

4 Ps of marketing mix comprises of:

Product Price Place Promotion

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How to Establish a Promotional Mix

You drive sales by promoting the benefits of your company's goods or services to pools of potential buyers. The ways you promote your organization will largely determine whether you successfully plant the right messages in the minds of your target audience. This module explains how you can establish a promotional mix best suited to your company's needs and resources.

Determine Your Target Market Determine Your Objectives Design Your Message Select Your Promotional Channels Determine Your Budget Determine Your Promotional Mix Measure the Results and Adjust

Elements of promotion mix

A promotional mix is an allocation of resources among five primary elements: 1. Advertising 2. Public relations or publicity 3. Sales promotion 4. Direct marketing 5. Personal selling

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Strategies of promotion mix

Push & Pull Strategies Communication by the manufacturer is not only

directed towards consumers to create strategy demand. is A push the

where

manufacturer

concentrates

some of their marketing effort on promoting their product to retailers to convince them to stock the product. A combination of promotional mix strategies are used at this stage aimed at the retailer including personal selling, and direct mail. The product is pushed onto the retailer, hence the name. A pull strategy is based around the manufacturer promoting their product amongst the target market to create demand. Consumers pull the product through the distribution channel forcing the wholesaler and retailer to stock it, hence the name pull strategy. Organisations tend to use both push and pull strategies to create demand from retailers and consumers.

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Communication Model AIDA

AIDA is a communication model which can be used by firms to aid them in selling their product or services. AIDA is an Acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.. When a product is launched the first goal is to grab attention. Think, how can an organization use it skills to do this? Use well-known personalities to sell products? Once you grab attention how can you hold Interest, through promoting features, clearly stating the benefit the product has to offer? The third stage is desire, how can you make the product desirable to the consumer? By demonstrating it? The final stage is the purchase action; if the company has been successful with its strategy then the target customer should purchase the product.

Promotion through the Product life cycle. -

As products move through the four stages of the product lifecycle different promotional strategies should be employed at these stages to ensure the healthy success and life of the product. Stages and promotion strategies employed. Introduction

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When a product is new the organisations objective will be to inform the target audience of its entry. Television, radio, magazine, coupons etc may be used to push the product through the introduction stage of the lifecycle. Push and Pull Strategies will be used at this crucial stage. Growth As the product becomes accepted by the target market the organisation at this stage of the lifecycle the organisation works on the strategy of further increasing brand awareness to encourage loyalty. Maturity At this stage with increased competition the organisation take persuasive tactics to encourage the consumers to purchase their product over their rivals. Any differential advantage will be clearly communicated to the target audience to inform of their benefit over their competitors. Decline As the product reaches the decline stage the organisation will use the strategy of reminding people of the product to slow the inevitable

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Analysis of promotional strategies in Birla cement factory

Objectives: Primary Objectives To analyze market share of Birla cement with its competitors at Satna region. Whether there is relation between advertising and sale of cement. To determine methods to generate brand loyalty.

Secondary objectives To determine the promotional tools applied by Birla cement. To determine the impact of advertising in sale of Birla cement.

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HYPOTHESIS
Success of Birla cement is directly related to its promotional strategy.

Sampling Design Sample universe Satna Sampling unit- customers Sample size- 14 customers Sampling technique- convenience technique

RESEARCH DESIGN
(a) General Methodology: The methodology adopted for this project was completely base on primary information. The first stage included gathering information about the general cement market of the two regions. That was, to find out which are major players, what is general promotion pattern, what type of incentive schemes the different brands are using. The second stage comprised determining the objective of the study and drafting the questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed keeping in mind the objective of the study. It was designed with due guidance of the company guide. It was assured that the questionnaire didnt exceed more than 10 questions.

b) Data Sources: The research called for gathering primary data only. Hence, primary sources were considered for the collection of data.

Primary source The primary data is gathered for specific purpose and is collected by the researcher himself. It includes direct communication and feedback from the customers. For the purpose

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of collecting information from customers a structured questionnaire was formulated and is contacted directlc)

Research Approach: The research conducted was exploratory in nature and the goal was to gather preliminary data to shed light on the real nature of problems and to suggest possible solutions. For the purpose of this project, we went for a questionnaire- based survey of customers. A pilot test of this questionnaire was done for the preparation of final questionnaire. It involved, applying the draft questionnaire to a sample of 5 people. This was done to ascertain which questions are ambiguous, wrongly worded or in any way objectionable.

(d)Research Instrument: 1. Personally administered questionnaire 2. Structured interview 3. Unstructured interview

For the purpose of this project, a questionnaire was designed to collect data that consisted of close ended questions & open ended questions. A survey technique was used to collect the data. During the project a survey of customers was done at random Analytical tools: The data, which was collected, was summarized and tabulated on MS-excel for further analysis. The analysis performed was mainly comparative analysis using statistical analytical tools. The tools that have been used are as follows: Bar Chart Pie Chart Line Graph

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SECONDARY DATA Secondary data was collected through close observation, company manuals, Journals, Magazines, Documents and Websites.

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DATA ANALYSIS & FINDINGS

Comparative Market share capital of top 7 Cement companies in India

Market Cap (Rs. in Cr.)

Birla Corpn. Shree Cement Prism Cement

Ambuja Cem. UltraTech Cem. ACC

Samruddhi Cem.

The graph clearly shows that the Ambhuja Cement has largest market share, followed by ACC. Cement. The main reason behind this excess market share goes to the higher

number of dealers of Ambhuja cement than other brands. Ultratech Cement on the other hand is having a good market share due to a nicely balanced supply chain of dealers along with many retailers. All the other brands like Birla , Prism and Shree are struggling to find market in India.

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Comparative sales of Top 3 Cement companies in Satna region

Market Cap (Rs. in Cr.)

23% 44% Prism Cement JP Cem Birla Cements 33%

The graph shows that the Prism is again surpassing JP & Birla cement in Satna(Central region). It has a scorching 44% share. The credit for Prism success goes to the no. of dealers it has in Satna(central region). Its success lies in promotional strategies adopted at Satna.

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Are you brand conscious?

Yes No Sometimes

This graph clearly shows that people are now much more brand conscious and very few like to shift to other brands.

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As a buyer, which promotional tool do you think is most important?

50 40 30 20 10 0 Advertising Sales Promotion Personal selling Publicity

This graph clearly shows that most of the buyers prefer advertising followed by sales promotion.

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If you think Birla Cement Co needs improvement in what respect should the improvement be?

Quality Price Promotion Distribution All of the above

This graph clearly shows that Birla needs improvement and it should improve on its promotion strategy at Satna region to gain maximum share at Satna Birla should improve its marketing strategy.

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Do you think that a brand ambassador would influence your buying decision in favour of a particular brand of cement?

No

Yes

This chart shows that brand ambassador plays important role in buying particular cement as JP has Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador Birla should also think in this respect.

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LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. The major problem of the survey was that most of the respondents being very loyal to their brands didnt give exact answers. Like they didnt talk much about what problems they are facing, what are the different marketing schemes of the brand in which they deal etc?

2. Once we got the questionnaire filled, we need to restart the conversation in a much generalized way and talk about the local market conditions. Like who is the main dealer, which cement is mostly sold in that area etc.so this survey demands a good piece of time while talking to the respondent.

3. Some of the respondents may have told they prefer promotion and were much conscious for their brands.

4. Many of the dealers/customers refused to answer any question at all. So the actual figures can be somewhat different from the one that we have found out.

5. Being a very big region, it is quite possible that I was unable to explore some of the dealers/customers.

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SUGGESTIONS
Based upon the time spent by me in the market, useful suggestions of the dealers &customers and the findings from the survey, following recommendations can be suggested for increasing sales and effectiveness of MP Birla Cement:

What matters for most of the cement buyers is the price of the cement and then the quality as well as promotion. While visiting to market buyers not only look price also their personal touch matters a lot and Birla need to improve because most of respondents tells Birla does not care in maintain relations with customers so it should improve their customer relationship management.

The second thing is that particular at Satna region Birla is after Prism and JP and it does not try to capture its market share at Satna due to its poor promotional strategy.

The number of retailers and sub dealers for Birla cement is equal to the main competitors Prism, JP. Etc. So Birla needs to be oriented in this direction. They need to increase the no. of retailers as much as possible.

Many of the Birla dealers used to shop other type of building materials along with cement, in the same shop. This should not be permitted by Birla .Because selling of these building materials is more profitable than cement, so the cement selling becomes less important for these dealers. They dont give proper attention to the

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company officials and also to the various schemes of increasing sales. This in turn brings reduced sales to the company.

Birla Cement has market image of modern cement with very good quality. It should try to encase this image. Its mainly the younger section of people who care about quality first and then the price. So Ultra Tech needs to give proper attention to the youngsters. May be, they are not the cement buyers at present but future possibility lies with them.

Some of the customers complained that they are not paying attention in personal selling and main competitor of Birla is Prism as Prism is much more into maintaining relations with its customers.

Birla should also improve working conditions for their factory workers as they are not satisfied with their working condition so they in turn do negative publicity.

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POSSIBLE ADVERTISEMENT METHODS

All of the cement brands use the similar methods of advertising like- painting walls, use banners, giving free gifts to the dealers and masons etc.There are still many possible methods of advertisement and creating brand awareness, which are untouched. Some of these methods are as below:

Local cable T.V. can be used for advertising as well as to give details about the major dealer/dealers in the city. Details like address, contact no. of the dealer, different schemes, current market price etc can be shown.

Banners, paintings are used mainly on the tractor trolleys, dealers shop and on walls only. We can think about using banners on rickshaws and autos also.

Different type of incentive schemes, free gifts are mainly for dealers and sometimes for the masons. As a change, we can also try to attract the customers directly. For exdiscount coupons, small free gifts, scratch cards etc can be made available for the customers.

A number of meetings are organized by all the cement companies with the local masons. Most of the masons are very less educated. They attend many meetings. So it may become difficult for them to recognize a particular cement brand. What we can do in this case is to take help of Handvertising i.e. we need to put the Birla cement logo on the hands of these masons. So that next time they saw this logo, they found themselves be familiar with the company.

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The masons meet are organized by the company regularly. This needs some improvements. We need to decrease the frequency of these meets. What we can do is that organize a big meet with a no. of people, higher company officials, entertainment, and snacks for all. The presence of company officials in the meeting is not alone sufficient. We need to call some big personalities from that city only. The people like these masons are more impressed by the presence of Govt.officials.

A mobile service provider can be undertaken in a contract and a buzz about the company and its awareness can be made by sending regular message to their distributors.

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CONCLUSION

Birla cement has two major competitors-PRISM CEMENT and JP CEMENT. The company can face a lot of competition in near future due to introduction of many more competitors. BIRLA CEMENT is well established in the markets as far as quality is concerned. Introduction of new attractive incentive schemes can bring new dealers and retailers for BIRLA cement. Price &promotion are the major factors that matters for a customer while purchasing cement Market share increases with the increase in no. of dealers. Brand ambassador has also influence in sale of cement for ex sachin tendulkar of JP cement. Birla cement follows exclusivity policy thus giving them a very narrow number of outlets.

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ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE

I, Jaya Janwani of M. P. Birla Institute of Management, am undertaking a Research Study on Analysis of the Promotional strategies in MP Birla cement and would therefore require your help in filling this questionnaire (?). All Information collected will be used for academic purposes only. Thank you. 1. Which companys cement do you buy most? o Birla cement o ACC cement o JP cement o Prism cement o Others (Please state the name of the company)

2. Are you brand conscious? o Yes o No o Sometimes

3. What attributes of the product / company motivates you to buy the above brand of cement? Page 72

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o Quality o Pricing o Advertising o Delivery o Satisfaction o All of the above 4. How much are you satisfied with the above brand of cement? o Highly satisfied o Satisfied o Moderately Satisfied o Dissatisfied o Highly dissatisfied 5. What is your annual consumption of cement? o 10 bags o 20 bags o 30 bas o More than that

6. How often do you buy cement? o o o

Yearly

o Quarterly Monthly Weekly

7. In a scale of 1 to 5, rate the following aspects of the product as per their relative importance to your company (5 for max importance) o Cost Page 73

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o Quality o promotion o Delivery o Innovation 8. As a buyer, which promotional tool do you think is most important? o Advertising o Sales Promotion o Personal selling o Publicity

9. Do you think that a brand ambassador would influence your buying decision in favour of a particular brand of cement? o Yes o No 10. How is Birla Cements customer relationship management? o Good o Best o Average o Poor

11. If you think Birla Cement Co needs improvement improvement be? o Quality o Price o Promotion o Distribution

in what respect should the

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o Any other o All of the above

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books
Elements of Marketing - Philip Kotler Marketing Management K Ramachandra Research Methodology Krishnaswamy Marketing Management - Philip Kotler Research Methodology And Techniques - C.R.Kothari

Magazines
Aditya Journals

Web sites www.cement.com www. Birla corporation. com www.wikipedia.org

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