IMPACT OF SALES PROMOTION WITH THE REFERENCE

OF ACC LTD. ON CONSUMERS.

SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

SUBMITTED TOWARDS PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT
OF
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(Affiliated To Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut)
Academic session
[2007-2010]

Submitted by:
Arpita Jaiswal

9351561
UNDER THE GUIDENCE OF:

EXTERNAL SUPERVISOR: INTERNAL SUPERVISR:

Mr. Alok R. Chaudhry Ms. Juhi Goel
Chief Manager Sales Lecturer
ACC Cement ltd. IMS
Allahabad

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

C-238 , BULANDSHAHAR ROAD ,LALQUAN , PB NO-57
GHAZIABAD-201009

1
 PREFACE

Each and every theory taught in the academic institution can only

become fruitful if used practically.

In the present era market is very competitive and very complicated , so to

study the sales promotion and its methods is very important.

The objective of summer training project was to find out the IMPACT

OF SALES PROMOTION ON CUSTOMERS by ACC Ltd. A well-

structured questionnaire was designed for consumers for comparative

study of impact sales promotion on customers. During the process of

collecting & analyzing the data, we also handle different problems of

customers. We also got aware of various difficulties. prevailing in cement

industry

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am extremely indebted to my project guide, Ms. JUHI GOEL for

not only granting me this challenging topic “Impact of sales
promotion with the reference to ACC ltd. on consumers” but also
for her regular guidance and help that inspired and encouraged
me to work all through the training period. Under her guidance I
learnt a lot about this topic. Probably without Her contribution,
this project would not have been possible.

My sincere thanks due also to the Chief Manager Sales Mr. ALOK
R. CHAUDHARY for his immense contribution. I am also
thankful to all who have directly or indirectly helped me towards
the successful completion of this project.

I would like to extend my thanks to all the respondents who patiently

answered to all my queries and cooperated with us and provided me with
all the valuable information that, I needed for my

3
 ARPITA JAISWAL

CONTENTS

 Introduction to the topic

 Executive summary
 Objective of research
 Research methodology
 Overview of cement industry
 Industry profile
 Company profile
 Corporate profile
 Data analysis and interpretation
 Observations and findings
 Limitations
 Conclusion
 Suggestions
 Annexure
 Bibliography

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5
.

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 SALES PROMOTION
“An activity designed to boost the sales of a product or service. It may include an
advertising campaign, increased PR activity, a free-sample campaign, offering free gifts
or trading stamps, arranging demonstrations or exhibitions, setting up competitions with
attractive prizes, temporary price reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, and
personal letters on other methods”.

More than any other element of the promotional mix, sales promotion is about “action”. It
is about stimulating customers to buy a product. It is not designed to be informative – a
role which advertising is much better suited to.
Sales promotion is commonly referred to as “Below the Line” promotion.

Sales promotion can be directed at:

• The ultimate consumer (a “pull strategy” encouraging purchase).

• The distribution channel (a “push strategy” encouraging the channels to stock the
product). This is usually known as “selling into the trade”.

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Sales promotions are activities that shape buying patterns attract new audiences or
increase sales. It's a grab-bag of a word that encompasses everything that falls outside
advertising, publicity and direct marketing, although these might be used to deliver your
sales promotions.

Most textbooks see sales promotion as interfacing with price -- this writer believes sales
promotions are broader than this. Too often people think discounts are synonymous with
sales promotion -- not true. Sales promotions can include the provision of sampling or
learning opportunities, joint promotions or collaborations with third party networks,
special events, giveaways and competitions, discounts, incentives, value adding and
rewards. In this section we will also look at distribution and display of promotional
materials, mainly because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Imaginatively and carefully planned sales promotions can deliver long-term benefits to
your organization. Too often they are used as an afterthought to get people through the
door. Not surprisingly, they usually look like last minute panic measures and that can
signal failure, not success.

One well-planned, far-reaching promotion is better than heaps of little one-offs that bear
no relation to your overall strategy. The work involved in developing sales promotions
can often outweigh the apparent benefit -- if you measure the results in the broadest
possible context, you just might find you have successfully reached people outside the
inner arts circle.

As the term implies -- the ultimate goal is sales or transactions. However, promotions can
be planned to increase sales over a long period within a specific market segment, so it is
not always about immediate results.

Need of Sales Promotion:

Good sales promotions say something about your work and who you are. They can be an
inexpensive way of increasing awareness, of reaching new buyers or extending the
buying choices of existing audiences. As an essential part of your campaign they should

8
be planned from the beginning. While sales promotions can often be done cheaply, there
should always be a line item for this activity in your budget, no matter how small.

Because sales promotions often involve working with other organizations, they can open
doors into the wider community. By building mutually beneficial relationships, you could
also be paving the way for sponsorship. Remember never devalue your product. This is
really easy to do if you are desperate, which is why the best sales promotions are usually
planned well in advance.

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 METHODS OF SALES PROMOTION
There are many consumer sales promotional techniques available, which
are as follows with special reference to ACC ltd.
1. ACC provides tour & travels time to time after achieving the
target in the given time
2. POP items like ring ,pad given to dealers
3. SONA CHANDI schemes
4. LAKSHYA schemes
 Price promotions:

Price promotions are also commonly known as “price discounting”.

These offer either:
(1) A discount to the normal selling price of a product, or
(2) More of the product at the normal price.

Increased sales gained from price promotions are at the expense of a loss in profit – so
these promotions must be used with care. A producer must also guard against the possible
negative effect of discounting on a brand’s reputation.

 Coupons:

Coupons are another, very versatile, way of offering a discount. Consider the following
examples of the use of coupons:

 On a pack to encourage repeat purchase.

 In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at
a retailer.
 A cut-out coupon as part of an advertisement.
 On the back of till receipts.

The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximize the redemption rate – this is
the proportion of customers actually using the coupon. One problem with coupons is that
they may simply encourage customers to buy what they would have bought anyway.
Another problem occurs when retailers do not hold sufficient stocks of the promoted
product – causing customer disappointment. Use of coupon promotions is, therefore,

10
often best for new products or perhaps to encourage sales of existing products that are
slowing down.

 Gift with purchase:

The “gift with purchase” is a very common promotional technique. It is also known as a
“premium promotion” in that the customer gets something in addition to the main
purchase. This type of promotion is widely used for:

 Subscription-based products (e.g. magazines).

 Consumer luxuries (e.g. perfumes).

 Competitions and prizes:

Another popular promotion tool with many variants. Most competition and prize
promotions are subject to legal restrictions.

Local advertising:

Acc also takes the help of local advertisers such as local websites , local channels ,
radios, and etc to promote its product. some of the states using local sales promotion are.
Bengal, Karnataka. And websites are, karukrit.com, lowelintas.com,linement.com.

ACC Suraksha - Karnataka

Client
Task for
the
AgencyAC
C Limited
Product Cement
Brand ACC Suraksha
Establish superiority of ACC Suraksha, a
blended cement, in a market dominated by

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graded cements

Create consumer pull

Justify higher price, by establishing the Brand

as a Premium Cement

Promote in semi urban/rural areas of

Karnataka
Communication Platform
No other "graded cement" can provide you the double protection, double strength
and double durability
Only ACC Suraksha - the Double Action Cement can
Communication Package
Regional local press to reach the opinion leaders viz. Architects. Engineers,
Contractors, etc
Direct Marketing efforts through field meeting with small groups of Masons &
Customers
Outdoor for continuous brand awareness
Radio - as a reminder medium
 
Result
A post-campaign study initiated by ACC, revealed the following
Extremely positive response from Dealers, who believed that the Campaign has
strengthened their hands
Interaction with Consumers and Masons who attended the meets revealed that ACC
Suraksha had occupied a premium position and the myth of 'grades' had been
implemented
Tangible improvement in off-take in the state of Karnataka where the Campaign has
been implemented

 Money refunds:

Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a proof of purchase to the
manufacturer. Customers often view these schemes with some suspicion – particularly if
the method of obtaining a refund looks unusual or onerous.

 Frequent user / loyalty incentives:

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Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives. Perhaps the best
examples of this are the many frequent flyer or user schemes used by airlines, train
companies, car hire companies etc.

 Point-of-sale displays:

Research into customer buying behavior in retail stores suggests that a significant
proportion of purchases results from promotions that customers see in the store.
Attractive, informative and well-positioned point-of-sale displays are, therefore, very
important part of the sales promotional activity in retail outlets.

HOW SALES PROMOTION HELPS IN INCREASING THE

MARKET SHARE?
Direct sales promotion can help build market share, breaking through brand loyalty by
offering incentives to buy. This is a strategy best used by small brands breaking into
markets dominated by larger brands. Prominent brands can use this strategy to gain
additional sales volume, but sales promotion alone, generally speaking, is not sufficient
enough reason for a long-time customer to make the switch permanently.

Decisions necessary for effective sales promotion include: establishing goals, selecting
appropriate tools, pre-testing the deal and evaluating the results.

Establishing Goals

Depending on the type of target market, specific goals may vary. Targeting consumers,
goals could include encouraging purchasing of larger quantities of product, building a
base with nonusers and attracting users of competitor’s brands. Targeting retailers, goals
include inducing them to carry additional items and higher levels of inventory,
encouraging off-season buying, building brand loyalty and opening orders with new retail
outlets. For your sales force, goals include additional support of a new product,
encouraging more prospecting and stimulating off-season sales. Clear definition of goals
will help measure success.

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Selecting Appropriate Tools
Consumer Promotion Tools:
Samples - can be delivered door to door, sent in the mail, attached to another product
1 or featured in advertising. This is the most effective and most expensive way to
introduce a new product.

Coupons - can be mailed, attached to other products or inserted in ads. Redemption

2 rates vary - pack distribution is redeemed at about 17%, direct-mail distribution about
8% and newspaper coupons about 2%.

Cash Refunds/Rebates - are redeemable after purchase and can be the determining
3
factor among products of similar price and quality.
Prizes/Contests/Sweepstakes - offer the opportunity to enter to win cash, a trip or
4 some other large item. Generally, these attract far more attention than a coupon or
small rebate.
Product Warranties - become more attractive as consumers become more quality
sensitive. It is important for companies to consider carefully the length of warranty,
5
what parts are covered, etc. so that the value of sales generated exceeds the potential
costs of the warranty.

Point of Purchase Displays/Demonstrations - take place at the retail outlet or point of

sale. Manufacturers get the attention of the most retailers by offering creative displays
6
and demos that are set up and maintained by the manufacturer and supported with
additional advertising.

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Business Promotion Tools
Trade Shows/Conventions - can significantly increase sales volume through direct contact
with customers. About 90% of a trade show's visitors see a company sales person for the first
1 time. Trade show preparation includes choosing the appropriate show(s) to attend, building a
dramatic display to attract attention, a strategy for drawing attendees into your booth and
effectively following up on sales leads.
Sales Contests - are used to increase sales over a determined period of time by awarding
2 prizes for those sales staff/representatives that attain stated goals. Important issues to consider
are what incentives work best for each sales person and what specific goals will be obtained.
Specialty Advertising - consists of useful, low-cost items bearing the company logo that sales
people can distribute to customers. When choosing a specialty advertising item, consider
3 overall cost, usefulness to customer and whenever possible, the type of item relates
specifically to your business. For example, an office supply retailer could have pens, paper
clip holders or scratch pads imprinted with their logo.

Pre-Testing the Deal

Sales promotions aimed at consumers can be pre-tested surveying a group of consumers

to rate different possible deals. Attending trade shows in which you are considering
exhibiting will give you information regarding other exhibitors, attendance, etc., so you
can make an informed decision about becoming an exhibitor. Seeking input from your
sales force regarding the types of incentive that will inspire them will help you develop a
successful incentive program.

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Evaluating the Results

Examining sales results before, during and after-a-sales promotion on a particular product
or service is perhaps the most common evaluation method utilized. If increases remain
after the promotion, it can be assumed that some customer gain has been achieved. Sales
promotions work best when your competitor’s customers try your product, determine it to
be the better choice, and continue to buy.

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 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

 The objective of the research is to study the effect of sales promotion on retaining
the customer. It studies how far sales promotion tools prove to be effective in
attracting and binding the customer’s to the product.

 To Study the effect of sales promotional schemes on the customer buying

decision.

 To under stand marketing strategy being adopted by ACC L.T.D

 To Identify sales promotional schemes which for customers for repeat purchase

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18
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is my extreme pleasure to undergo project at an esteemed organization like ACC

cement ltd. I have made an effort through this research to make a report covering the
following:

 To study the effect of sales promotion on customer , it studies how far sales
promotion tools prove to be effective in attracting the ustomers.

 To study the effect of sale promotional schemes on consumer buying behavior

 To understand marketing strategy being adopted by ACC ltd.

The project attempts to explore the most effective sales promotional tools for smoothly
achieving organisational objectives.

The research is conducted to get the feedback of the customers and understand the
importance of the sales promotion. To understand the relevance of the wide variety of methods
and techniques that can be explored in satisfying and retaining the customers.

ACC (ACC Limited) is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete. ACC's
operations are spread throughout the country with 14 modern cement factories, 19 Ready
mix concrete plants, 19 sales offices, and several zonal offices. It has a workforce of
about 9000 persons and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000 dealers. Since
its inception in 1936, the company has been a trendsetter and important benchmark for

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the cement industry in respect of its production, marketing and personnel management
processes. ACC has made significant contributions to the nation building process by way
of quality products, services and sharing its expertise.

Old Vision of ACC:

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21
 New Vision:

Mission of ACC

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 Maintain our leadership of the Indian cement industry through the
Leadership continuous modernization and expansion of our manufacturing facilities
and activities, and through the establishment of a wide and efficient
marketing network.
Achieve a fair and reasonable return on capital by promoting productivity
Profitability throughout the company.
Ensure a steady growth of business by strengthening our position in the
Growth cement sector.
Maintain the high quality of our products and services and ensure their
Quality supply at fair prices.

Promote and maintain fair industrial relations and an environment for the
Equity effective involvement, welfare and development of staff at all levels.
Promote research and development efforts in the areas of product
Pioneering development and energy, and fuel conservation, and to innovate and
optimize productivity.
Fulfill our obligations to society, specifically in the areas of integrated
Responsibility rural development and in safeguarding the environment and natural
ecological balance.

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24
The purpose of the methodology is to describe the research procedure. This includes
overall research design, the sampling procedure, the data collection method, and the fried
methods and analysis procedure.

Out of total universe 200 respondents have been taken for convenience. The sample
procedure chosen for this are statistical sampling method. Here randomly employees are
selected and interviewed. An in depth interview is conducted with the Human Resource
Head. Information, which I collected, was based on the questionnaires filled up by the
sample employees.  Under secondary method I took the help of various reference books
which I have mentioned in bibliography and also by way of surfing through the company
website.

Primary Data
Questionnaire: Corresponding to the nature of the study direct, structured
questionnaires with a mixture of close and open-ended questions are administered to the
relevant respondents.

Secondary Data
The researcher has also collected the secondary data by means of the documentary
sources such as:

 Company records
 Registers files booklets
 Magazine
 Journals
 Booklets

Organizational literature: Any relevant literature available from the organisation on the
Company profile, is used.

Other Sources: Appropriate journals, magazines , relevant newspaper articles, company

brochures and articles on www sites will also be used to substantiate the identified
objectives. 

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 Collection of Data:

The marketing research was a field survey personally done through questionnaire. The
research is based on both primary and secondary data.

For collecting the primary data the survey was done through questionnaire, which was
personally given to customers and was filled by them.

For theoretical overview, secondary data was collected for magazines, newspaper and
different website.

Area covered

The area covered under the survey for customers is entire Allahabad.

Sample size

The total sample size is 200 customers.

Sampling
Sampling was done through simple random.

Instrument used:

Questionnaire

A questionnaire consists of questions presented for respondents for their answers. Due to
its flexibility, it is by for the most common instrument used to collect the primary data.
Hence in my survey, questionnaire is used to collect primary data from customers.

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27
 Cement is a key infrastructure industry. It has been decontrolled from price and
distribution on 1st March, 1989 and delicensed on 25th July, 1991. However, the
performance of the industry and prices of cement are monitored regularly. The
constraints faced by the industry are reviewed in the Infrastructure Coordination
Committee meetings held in the Cabinet Secretariat under the Chairmanship of Secretary
(Coordination). Its performance is also reviewed by the Cabinet Committee on
Infrastructure. Cement Industry originated in India when the first plant commenced
production in 1914 in Porbandar, Gujarat. The industry has since been growing at a
steady pace, but in the initial stage, particularly during the period before Independence,
the growth had been very slow. Since indigenous production was not sufficient to meet
the entire domestic demand, the Government had to control its price and distribution
statutorily. Large quantities of cement had to be imported for meeting the deficit. The
industry was partially decontrolled in 1982 and this gave impetus to its pace of growth.
Installed capacity more than doubled during the period 1980-90. It increased from 27
million tones in 1980-81 to 62 million tones in 1989-90.

Encouraged by the positive response of the industry to the policy liberalization in the
cement industry, Government decontrolled the industry fully on 1 st March 1989. With the
Industrial Policy Statement made by the Government on 24th July 1991, the cement
industry stands delicensed. It has also been listed as a priority industry in Schedule III of
the Industry Policy Statement making it eligible for automatic approval for foreign
investment up to 51 per cent and also for technical collaboration on normal terms of
payment of royalty and lump sum know-how fee.

Indian cement industry has thus been one of the pioneering industries in introducing
policy reforms. After the liberalization measures and globalization of Indian economy,
the cement industry has been growing rapidly at an average rate of 8 per cent except for a
short period in 1991-92 when the industry faced demand recession. The country is now

28
the second largest producer of cement in the world. India has also started exporting large
quantities of cement and clinker.

Capacity and Production

The cement industry comprises of 125 large cement plants with an installed
capacity of 148.28 million tones and more than 300 mini cement plants with an estimated
capacity of 11.10 million tones 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 tones. Actual cement production in 2002-03 was 116.35
million tones as against a production of 106.90 million tones in 2001-02, 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 2003-04. During the
period April-June 2003, a production (provisional) was 31.30 million tonnes. The
industry has achieved a growth rate of 4.86 per cent during this period.

Technological change
Cement industry has made tremendous strides in technological up gradation and
assimilation of latest technology. At present ninety three per cent of the total capacity in
the industry is based on modern and environment-friendly dry process technology and
only seven per cent of the capacity is based on old wet and semi-dry process technology.
There is tremendous scope for waste heat recovery in cement plants and thereby
reduction in emission level. One project for co-generation of power utilizing waste heat
in an Indian cement plant is being implemented with Japanese assistance under Green
Aid Plan. The induction of advanced technology has helped the industry immensely to
conserve energy and fuel and to save materials substantially. India is also producing
different varieties of cement like Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana

29
Cement (PPC), Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement (PBFS), Oil Well Cement, Rapid
Hardening Portland Cement, Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement, White Cement etc.
Production of these varieties of cement conform to the BIS Specifications. It is worth
mentioning that some cement plants have set up dedicated jetties for promoting bulk
transportation and export

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Some Facts in Indian cement industry
1. Indian cement industry dates back to 1914 - first unit was set-up at Porbandar with a
capacity of 1000 tones

2. Currently India is ranked second in the world with an installed capacity of 114.2
million tones. 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

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 CEMENT INDUSTRY ; STRUCTURE

Installed capacity 114.2 mn tones per annum (mntpa)

Production around 87.8 mn tonnes 

Major cement plants

 Companies : 59
 Plants : 116
 Typical installed capacity 
 per plant : Above 1.5 mntpa
 Total installed capacity : 105 mntpa
 Production 98-99 : 81.6 mntpa
 Excise :Rs. 350/ tone
 All India reach through multiple plants
 Export to Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE and
 Mauritius
 Strong marketing network, tie-ups with customers, 
 contractors
 Wide spread distribution network.
 Sales primarily through the dealer channel

Mini cement plants

  Nearly 300 plants
  Located in Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP
  Typical capacity < 200 tpd
  Installed capacity around 9 mn. Tones
  Production around : 6.2 mn tones 
  Excise : Rs. 200/ tone
 Mini plants were meant to tap scattered limestone reserves.
  Most use vertical kiln technology
  Production cost / tone - Rs. 1,000 to 1,400 
  Presence of these plants limited to the state

 Infrastructural facilities not the best

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Usage

Private housing sector is the major consumer of cement (65%) followed by the
government infrastructure sector at 15% 9down from 20%) < 1% of the cement
produced is sold in bulk form unlike US & Japan

Production

Excess capacity exists, though some units are sick

 99 - 2000 production expected to reach 95 mn tones ]

 Exports around 2 mn tones
 Cement manufactured through the wet, semi-dry or dry process. 
 Dry process accounts for 90% of  the installed capacity 
 Wet process popular in the past - better control over mixing of raw material

Dry process replacing wet process as it is space saving energy efficient and economical

Prices

Price fluctuations high 

 Essentially determined by demand 

 Prices also vary with grades

Players

Over 370 companies in the organised sector

 However, industry dominated by 20 companies who account for over 70% of the
market
 Individually no company accounts for over 12% of the market

TOP TEN MAJOR PLAYERS OF CEMENT INDUSTRY

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Company Production Installed Capacity
ACC 17,902 18,640
Gujarat Ambuja 15,094 14,860
Ultratech 13,707 17,000
Grasim 14,649 14,115
India Cements 8,434 8,810
JK Group 6,174 6,680
Jaypee Group 6,316 6,531
Century 6,636 6,300
Madras Cements 4,550 5,470
Birla Corp. 5,150 5,113

Regional

 Plants located close to limestone centres

 resulted in cross regional movement
 80% of the production consumed within the states except Madhya Pradesh

Major clusters

  Satna, MP (11.77 mntpa)

  Chandrapur, Maharashtra/ AP (9.59 mntpa)
  Gulbarga, Karnataka/ AP (6.83 mntpa)
  Yerranguntla, AP (1.9 mntpa)
  Nalgonda, AP (5.85 mntpa)
  Bilaspur, MP (9.7 mntpa)
  Chandoria, Rajasthan/ MP (7.03 mntpa)
  Non cluster (47.60 mntpa)

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35
 PRESENT STATUS

INSTALLED CAPACITY

In the cement industry there are two sectors – one consisting of large plants and the other
consisting of mini cement plants. A factory with an installed capacity exceeding 2,97,000
tonnes per annum (900 tonnes per day) is a large plant and with capacity upto and
including 2,97,000 tonnes is a mini cement plant. At present, there are 120 large plants
and about 300 mini cement plants. Since mini cement plants are scattered all over the
country with a number of associations representing different types of processes, sizes etc.
and some of them are even tiny units, it has not been possible to obtain correct data of
this sector. The present installed capacity of large plants is 112.01 million tonnes and the
estimated capacity of mini cement plants is 9 million tonnes. There is only one Central
Public Sector Undertaking in the cement sector, i.e. Cement Corporation of India, which
has 10 units. There are 10 large cement plants owned by various State Governments. The
break-up of installed capacity of large and mini cement plants is given below: -

Public Sector Plants No. of plants

Installed capacity
    (In million tonnes)

Cement Corporation of India 10 3.85

Others owned by State Governments 10 5.27

Private Sector plants 100 102.89

Total 120 112.01*

Mini cement plants 300 9.00

36
  
Grand total 121.01*

*includes the capacity of 2.41 million tonnes of closed units.

The cement industry is concentrated mainly in those States, where there are large deposits
of limestone, which is the main raw material for cement. Nearly 82 per cement of the
capacity of large plants is located in seven States. The distribution of capacity in respect
of large cement plants among these States as on 31st March, 2000 is as under: -

Capacity
State No. of Plants %age of total
(In Million tonnes) capacity

Madhya Pradesh 19 26.23 23.42

Andhra Pradesh 20 17.00 15.18

Rajasthan 16 15.53 13.86

Gujarat 12 12.64 11.28

Tamil Nadu 10 7.62 6.80

Karnataka 8 6.92 6.18

Maharashtra 6 7.41 6.62

Others 29 18.66 16.66

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Total 120 112.01 100

   (Million Tonnes)

Concerns

 Cement industry going through a consolidation phase in the last few years

Transportation

 Transportation costs high - freight accounts for 17% of the production cost
 Road preferred mode for transportation for distances less than 250kms. 
However, industry is heavily dependant on roads as the railway infrastructure is
not adequate - shortage of wagons.

Capacity additions

 Acquisitions have been the mainstay of the business

 Regional imbalance resulting in cross regional movement -
limestone availability in pockets has led to uneven  capacity additions
 Capacity additions have slowed down

Industry inputs

 Highly capital intensive industry

 Nearly 55-60% of the inputs controlled by the government
 Facing problems due to power shortage
 Coal availability and quality affecting production
 Mini plants realization of revenue lower than large plants, survival difficult

Future:-

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Demand drivers

 Infrastructure & construction sector the major demand drivers. Some demand
determinants
  Economic growth
  Industrial activity
  Real estate business
  Construction activity
  Investments in the core sector

Future

 Signs of a revival
 growth in the housing sector
 central road fund established for national  highways and
railway over bridges to provide the necessary impetus
 expansion plans, Greenfield projects on the anvil
 Capacity likely to be 126.9 mn. tones by  2000 - 2004
  By 2000 - 1.9 mn tones addition expected
  2000-2001 - 2 mn tones
  2001 - 2002 - 5 mn tones
 Demand - supply balance expected in the next 12 - 15 months
 Higher capacity utilisation likely in the future
 Encouraging trend in demand due to pick-up in rural housing demand and
industrial revival
 Industry likely to grow at 8-10% in the next few years

39
40
41
HISTORY OF ACC Ltd :-

Ours has been an interesting story – one that inspired a book. ACC was formed in 1936
when ten existing cement comun Tra lai em niem vui khi duoc gan ben em, tra lai em loi
yeu thuong em dem, tra lai em niem tin thang nam qua ta dap xay. Gio day chi la nhung
ky niem buon... http://nhatquanglan.xlphp.net/

Companies came together under one umbrella in a historic merger – the country’s
first

Tra lai em niem vui khi duoc gan ben em, tra lai em loi yeu thuong em dem, tra
lai em niem tin thang nam qua ta dap xay. Gio day chi la nhung ky niem buon...
http://nhatquanglan.xlphp.net/

coined. The history of ACC spans a wide canvas beginning with the lonely
struggle of its pioneer F E Dinshaw and other Indian entrepreneurs like him who
founded the Indian cement industry. Their efforts to face competition for survival
in a small but aggressive market mingled with the stirring of a country’s
nationalist pride that touched all walks of life – including trade, commerce and
business.

The first success came in a move towards cooperation in the country’s young cement
industry and culminated in the historic merger of ten companies to form a cement giant.
These companies belonged to four prominent business groups – Tatas, Khataus, Killick
Nixon and F E Dinshaw groups. ACC was formally established on August 1, 1936.
Sadly, F E Dinshaw, the man recognized as the founder of ACC, died in January 1936.
Just months before his dream could be realized.

42
 F. E. Dinshaw – the founder
of ACC

ACC stands out as the most unique and ent companies were melded into a new cohesive
organization – one that has survived and retained its position of leadership in industry. In
a sense, the formation of ACC represents a quest for the synergy of good business
practices, values and shared objectives. The use of the plural in ACC’s full name, The
Associated Cement Companies Limited, itself indicates the company’s origins from a
merger. Many years later, some stockbrokers in the country’s leading stock exchanges
still refer to this company simply as ‘The Merger’.

ACC's First Board Meeting in 1936 at The Esplanade

Sir Nowroji B Saklatvala was the first chairman of ACC. The first Board included
distinguished luminaries of the Indian business world of the time – names like J R D
Tata, Ambalal Sarabhai, Walchand Hirachand, Dharamsey Khatau, Sir Akbar Hydari,
Nawab Salar Jung Bahadur and Sir Homy Mody among others.

A strategic alliance:-

43
The house of Tata was intimately associated with the heritage and history of ACC, right
from its formation in 1936 up to 2000. Between the years 1999 and 2000, the Tata group
sold all 14.45 per cent of its shareholding in ACC in three stages to subsidiary companies
of Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL), who are now the largest single shareholder in
ACC. This has enabled ACC to enter into a strategic alliance with GACL, a company
reputed for its brand image and cost leadership in the cement industry.

Holcim - a new partnership

A new association was forged between ACC and the Holcim group of Switzerland in
2005. In January 2005, Holcim announced its plans to enter into a long-term strategic
alliance with the Ambuja Group by acquiring a majority stake in Ambuja Cements India
Ltd. (ACIL), which at the time held 13.8 per cent of the total equity shares in ACC.
Holcim simultaneously announced its bid to make an open offer to ACC shareholders,
through Holcim Cement Pvt Limited and ACIL, to acquire a majority shareholding in
ACC. An open offer was made by Holcim Cement Pvt. Limited along with Ambuja
Cements India Ltd. (ACIL), following which the shareholding of ACIL increased to
34.69 per cent of the Equity share capital of ACC. Consequently, ACIL has filed
declarations indicating their shareholding and declaring itself as a Promoter of ACC.

Holcim is the world leader in cement as well as being large suppliers of concrete,
aggregates and certain construction-related services. Holcim is also a respected name in
information technology and research and development. The group has its headquarters in
Switzerland with worldwide operations spread across more than 70 countries.
Considering the formidable global presence of Holcim and its excellent reputation, the
Board of ACC has welcomed this new association.

ACC’s registered office was first located at Esplanade House in South Mumbai, a
graceful edifice that still stands out in its neighborhood. The head office then shifted to its
own premises in Cement House shown here. The address of this stately building was then
Number 1, Queen’s Road, Churchgate. An all-India competition in 1938 had invited
leading architects of the time to send in their designs of which this elegant design made
by Ballardie Thompson & Mathews was chosen as the winning entry. Work on its

44
construction began in 1939 and was completed during the War period. The building was
occupied by the Royal Air Force and vacated only in 1946.

ACC - The only Super Brand in cement

ACC continues to be the only cement company to get Consumer Super Brand status in
India. The new certification programme for Super Brand 2007 was launched at a function
in Mumbai where His Excellency Mr. S M Krishna Governor of Maharashtra presented
the Super Brand trophy and certificate to Mr. Sumit Banerjee, Managing Director.

Super Brands Council India is the Indian affiliate of an independent global certification
programme that has chapters in several countries. The council nominates an independent
jury comprising eminent persons from industry, advertising and market research who
shortlist and identify strong and powerful brands. This year’s programme was doubly
unique because the final selection was made after giving due weightage to the choice of
the jury as well as field research carried out on customer perceptions by AC Nielsen, a
globally renowned market research firm.

ACC established the country’s first Ready Mix Concrete plant in the country and is today
a leader in the Ready Mix Concrete business, which is growing at a very rapid pace
across India.

ACC, India’s foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete with a gross turnover of
Rs.4038 crores and total capacity of 183 lakh tons per annum offers specialized
engineering consultancy in cement and other process industries to many countries –
services ranging from geological prospecting to management and operation of plants
including process engineering, productivity and optimization studies, modernization, up
gradation, expansion and technical training. It provides effective solutions for
environment management, pollution control and energy conservation in India and abroad.
ACC’s overseas activities include prestigious operations and management contracts in
countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Yemen.

45
The launch of this Help Centre in Calicut is an endeavor by ACC to guide customers
build their dream home. It is in the interest of the customers to use this facility to the
maximum and we are sure that this association will be a long and mutually benefiting
one.

ACC was formed in the year 1936 as a result of amalgamation of 10 cement companies.

For nearly 7 decades ACC has been acknowledged as a leader in the cement industry,
who believes in delivering value to its customers with products of highest quality,
dedicated services along with a research and development facility, which is a one of its
kind in the industry.
ACC endeavors to meet every customer demand. Our Consultancy Division offers
support to individuals and organizations, both in India and abroad. Over the last few
years ACC has endeavored with various initiatives to come closer to its customers, to
understand them better and provide total solutions.

This website is yet another attempt to help our valued customers achieve their goal of
good and durable construction.

46
47
 ACC (ACC Limited) is India's foremost manufacturer of cement and concrete.
ACC's operations are spread throughout the country with 14 modern cement factories, 19
Ready mix concrete plants, 19 sales offices, and several zonal offices. It has a workforce
of about 9000 persons and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000 dealers.
ACC's research and development facility has a unique track record of innovative
research, product development and specialized consultancy services. Since its inception
in 1936, the company has been a trendsetter and important benchmark for the cement
industry in respect of its production, marketing and personnel management processes. Its
commitment to environment-friendliness, its high ethical standards in business dealings
and its on-going efforts in community welfare programmes have won it acclaim as a
responsible corporate citizen. ACC has made significant contributions to the nation
building process by way of quality products, services and sharing its expertise.

In the 70 years of its existence, ACC has been a pioneer in the manufacture of cement
and concrete and a trendsetter in many areas of cement and concrete technology
including improvements in raw material utilisation, process improvement, energy
conservation and development of high performance concretes.

ACC’s brand name is synonymous with cement and enjoys a high level of equity in the
Indian market. It is the only cement company that figures in the list of Consumer Super
Brands of India.

The company's various businesses are supported by a powerful, in-house research and
technology backup facility - the only one of its kind in the Indian cement industry. This
ensures not just consistency in product quality but also continuous improvements in
products, processes, and application areas.

48
ACC has rich experience in mining, being the largest user of limestone, and it is also one
of the principal users of coal. As the largest cement producer in India, it is one of the
biggest customers of the Indian Railways, and the foremost user of the road transport
network services for inward and outward movement of materials and products.ACC has
also extended its services overseas to the Middle East, Africa, and South America, where
it has provided technical and managerial consultancy to a variety of consumers, and also
helps in the operation and maintenance of cement plants abroad. ACC is among the first
companies in India to include commitment to environmental protection as one of its
corporate objectives, long before pollution control laws came into existence. The
company installed pollution control equipment and high efficiency sophisticated
electrostatic precipitators for cement kilns, raw mills, coal mills, power plants and coolers
as far back as 1966. Every factory has state-of-the art pollution control equipment and
devices.

ACC demonstrates the practices of being a good corporate citizen undertaking a wide
range of activities to improve the living conditions of the under-privileged classes living
near its factories.

ABOUT PRODUCT

ACC's brand name is synonymous with cement and enjoys a high level of equity
in the Indian market. Our range of cements and blended cements is marketed through a
network of 19 Sales Units, 54 Area Offices, and 194 warehouses. This is backed by a
countrywide network of over 9,000 dealers who, in turn, are assisted by their sub-dealers.

ACC’s marketing; sales and distribution processes are industry standards. Although we
take immense pride in having supplied some of India’s most admired projects, ACC is
essentially a people’s brand of cement with more than 80 per cent of sales made through
an extensive dealer network that covers every state in India. Its customer base represents
the masses of India - individual homebuilders in small towns, rural and semi-urban India.

49
ACC cement enjoys an image of assuring consistency and of high quality backed by in-
house research and expertise.

Complementing this is a unique customer services cell comprising qualified civil

engineers, who assist and advise customers with prior and post sales service. This service
begins with selection of type and grade of cement (where applicable) to troubleshooting
and on-site assistance.

ACC manufactures the various kinds of Portland Cement for general construction and
special applications. In addition to this, ACC offers two value added products namely,
Bulk Cement and Ready Mix Concrete.

PRODUCT: CEMENT

Cement is a basic binding material very widely used in construction. Today cements
are called as Portland cement because of resemblance with a famous building stone
found at Portland, England.

1. Joseph Aspidin, an English bricklayer patented cement for the first time in 1824.

2. William Aspidin , manufactured Portland cement for the first time in 1848.

3. The product has existed for more than 100 years.

RAW MATERIALS OF CEMENT

1. Calcareous 2. Argillaceous
-Limestone -Clay
-Sea stone -Shale
-Sea shale -Late rite
-Mary -Iron ore

ACC manufactures the following types of cement, in addition to which, it provides Bulk
Cement and Ready Mix Concrete.

50
Ordinary Portland Cements

  OPC 43 Grade

  OPC 53 Grade

Blended Cements
  Fly-ash based Portland Pozzolana Cement

  Portland Slag Cement

ORDINARY PORTLAND CEMENTS

43 Grade Cement (OPC 43 Grade)

ACC Cement is the most commonly used cement in all constructions including plain and
reinforced cement concrete, brick and stone masonry, floors and plastering. It is also used
in the finishing of all types of buildings, bridges, culverts, roads, water retaining
structures, etc.

What is more, it surpasses BIS Specifications (IS 8112-1989 for 43 grade OPC) on
compressive strength levels.

ACC Cement is marketed in specially designed 50 kg bags.

53 Grade Cement

This is an Ordinary Portland Cement which surpasses the requirements of IS: 12269-53
Grade. It is produced from high quality clinker ground with high purity gypsum.

ACC 53 Grade OPC provides high strength and durability to structures because of its
optimum particle size distribution, superior crystalline structure and balanced phase
composition.

It is available in specially designed 50-kg bags

BLENDED CEMENTS
Fly-ash based Portland Pozzolana Cement

This is a special blended cement, produced by inter-grinding higher strength Ordinary

Portland Cement clinker with high quality processed fly ash - based on norms set by the

51
company's R&D division. This unique, value-added product has hydraulic binding
properties not found in ordinary cements.

It is available in specially designed 50-kg bags

PORTLAND SLAG CEMENT

This is slag-based blended cement that imparts strength and durability to all structures. It
is manufactured by blending and inter-grinding OPC clinker and granulated slag in
suitable proportions as per our norms of consistent quality. PSC has many superior
performance characteristics which give it certain extra advantages when compared to
Ordinary Portland Cement.

It is available in specially designed 50-kg bags

BLENDED CEMENTS

 Blended cements are made by utilizing slag or Fly ash.

 Fly ash based cement is called PPC. It is a double action cement and BIS code
is:1489 part 1

 Slag based cement is called as PSC.

Generally in case of OPC following reaction takes place:-

OPC +water = C-S-H + Ca (OH) 2

In case of PPC following reaction takes place:-

52
PPC + water = C-S-H + Ca (OH) 2= Ca (OH)2 + active silica = C-S-H

This reaction shows the utilization of remaining Ca (OH) 2 with active silica to form C-
S-H. So no Ca is left behind which is responsible for lime leaching attack.

One of the major advantages of PPC is shown below in the graph, it shows the
comparative strength. In initial strength OPC is slightly higher than PPC, but as the time
passes (app.28days) the strength of OPC becomes constant where as the strength of PPC
increases even after 28 days.PPC over-dominates OPC in long

PPC- Higher long term strength

150
-%

PPC
Comp. Strength

100 OPC

50

0
0 3 7 28 56 90
Days

53
ACC believes in providing both strength and durability to its customers and infect
focuses a lot on them. This is the reason that it is been complimented as a Super Brand.

Strength
PPC

Durability

54
FEW OF THE FAMOUS MONUMENTS BUILT ACC

55
 Built With ACC

India’s Largest Gravity Dam, Built before 60 Years

56
J J Flyover, Mumbai
M75 Concrete mass produced in
India for the first time

Built With ACC

57
Built With ACC

58
 What is double action?
Primary Hydration Secondary Hydration
OPC PPC
+
+
WATER WATER

C-S-H + Ca(OH)2
C-S-H + Ca(OH)2 +
reactive
silica
C-S-H

More CSH Jel – More Strength in Concrete

59
ACC CEMENT PLANTS IN INDIA

60
61
 PLANT FACILITIES

ACC's Plant-wise Capacity

Units State Capacity (MTPA)

Bargarh Cement Works Bargarh 0.96

Cement Nagar, PO Bardol
District Bargarh
Orissa -768038

Chaibasa Cement Works Chaibasa 0.87

P.O Jhinkpani - 833 215
District Singhbhum
Jharkhand

Chanda Cement Works Chanda 1.00

P.O. Cementnagar
Pin - 442 502
Dist Chandrapur
Maharashtra

Damodar Cement Works Damohar 0.53

Damodar
P.O. Sunuri 723 121
Madhukunda
District Purulia
West Bengal

Gagal Cement Works Gagal 3.52

(Gagal I and II)
P.O. Barmana - 174 013
District Bilaspur
Himachal Pradesh

Jamul Cement Works Jamul 1.58

P.O. Jamul Cement Works
Pin- 490 024
District Durg
Chhattisgarh

62
Kymore Cement Works Kymore 1.70
P.O. Kymore
Pin- 483 880
Dist. Katni
Madhya Pradesh

Lakheri Cement Works Lakheri 0.60

P.O. Lakheri
Pin- 323 603
Dist Bundi
Rajasthan

Madukkarai Cement Works Madukkarai 0.96

P.O. Madukkarai
District Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu

Sindri Cement Works Sindri 0.60

P.O. ACC Colony
Pin- 828 124
District Dhanbad
Jharkhand

Wadi Cement Works Wadi 2.11

P.O. Wadi
Pin- 585 225
District Gulbarga (C. Rly)
Karnataka

Wadi Cement Works New Wadi Plant 2.60

P.O. Wadi
Pin- 585 225
District Gulbarga (C. Rly)
Karnataka

Tikaria Cement Grinding and Tikaria 2.00

Packing Plant ACC Limited
Tikaria Industrial Area
P.O. Tehsil Gauriganj
District Sultanpur 227 409
Uttar Pradesh

63
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mr N. S. Sekhsaria
Chairman 

 
Mr Paul Hugentobler
Deputy Chairman

 
Mr Sumit Banerjee
Managing Director

 
 Mr A L Kapur
 Mr S M Palia
 Mr Naresh Chandra
 Mr Markus Akermann
 Mr M L Narula
 Mr D K Mehrotra
 Mr R A Shah
 Dr Nirmalya Kumar
 Mr Shailesh Haribhakti
 Ms Shikha Sharma

64
65
MILESTONES

2000

Tata Group sells their remaining stake in ACC to the GACL group, who with 14.45%
now emerge as the single largest shareholder of ACC.

2001

Commissioning of the new plant of 2.6 MTPA capacity at Wadi, Karnataka plant, the
largest in the country, and among the largest sized kilns in the world.

2002

ACC wins PHDCCI Good Corporate Citizen Award

2003

IDCOL Cement Ltd becomes a subsidiary of ACC

2004

IDCOL Cement Limited is renamed as Bargarh Cement Limited (BCL).

2004

ACC raises US $ 100 million abroad through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds
(FCCB’s) for US$ 60 million and Global Depository Shares (GDS’s) for US $ 40
million. Both offerings are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

2004

ACC named as a Consumer Superbrand by the Superbrands Council of India, becoming

the only cement company to get this status.
2004

GreenTech Safety Gold and Silver Awards awarded to Madukkarai Cement Works and
Katni Refractory Works by Greentech Foundation for outstanding performance in Safety
Management System.

2005

ACC receives the CFBP Jamnalal Bajaj Uchit Vyavahar Puraskar Certificate of Merit –
2004 from Council For Fair Business Practices.

2005

Holcim group of Switzerland enters strategic alliance with Ambuja Group by acquiring a
majority stake in Ambuja Cements India Ltd. (ACIL) which at the time held 13.8 % of
the total equity shares in ACC. Holcim simultaneously makes an open offer to ACC
shareholders, through Holcim Cement Pvt. Limited and ACIL, to acquire a majority
shareholding in ACC. Pursuant to the open offer, ACIL’s shareholding in ACC increases
to 34.69 % of the Equity share capital of ACC.

2005

Commissioning of Modernization and Expansion project at Chaibasa in Jharkhand,

replacing old wet process technology with a new 1.2 MTPA clinkering unit, together with
a captive power plant of 15 MW.

2005

Financial accounting year of the company changed to calendar year January-December

2006

Subsidiary companies Damodhar Cement & Slag Limited, Bargarh Cement Limited and
Tarmac (India) Limited merged with ACC

2006

ACC announces new Workplace policy for HIV/AIDS

34
2006

Change of name to ACC Limited with effect from September 1, 2006 from The
Associated Cement Companies Limited.

2006

ACC receives Good Corporate Citizen Award 2005-06 from Bombay Chamber of
Commerce and Industry

2006

New corporate brand identity and logo adopted from October 15, 2006

2006

ACC establishes Anti Retroviral Treatment Centre for HIV/AIDS patients at Wadi in
Karnataka– the first ever such project by a private sector company in India.

2007
ACC partners with Christian Medical College for treatment of HIV/AIDS in Tamil
Nadu

2007
Sumant Moolgaokar Technical Institute completes 50 years and reopens with new
curriculum

2007
ACC commissions Wind energy farm in Tamilnadu.

2008
Ready mixed concrete business hived off to a new subsidiary called ACC Concrete
Limited.

2008
ACC Cement Technology Institute formally inaugurated at Jamul on July 7.

2008
First Sustainable Development Report released on June 5.

2008

35
 ACC wins CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Award in the category India
Corporate Citizen of the year 2008

2008
Project Orchid launched to transform our Corporate Office, Cement House into a
green building.

2009
ACC received the Jamanalal Bajaj "Uchit Vyavahar Puraskar" of Council for Fair
Business Practices

2009
ACC is allotted coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

2009
ACC's new Grinding plant of capacity 1.60 million tonnes inaugurated at
Thondebhavi in Karnataka.

2010
Kudithini Cement Grinding Plant inaugurated in Karnataka on January 4, 2010 with
a capacity of 1.1 MTPA of Portland Slag Cement.

2010
ACC acquires 100 percent of the financial equity of Encore Cements & Additives
Private Limited which is a slag grinding plant in Vishakhapatnam in coastal Andhra
Pradesh. This company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACC in January
2010.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

ACC was the first recipient of ASSOCHAM’s first ever National Award for outstanding
performance in promoting rural and agricultural development activities in 1976. Decades
later, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry selected ACC as winner of its Good
Corporate Citizen Award for the year 2002. Over the years, there have been many awards
and felicitations for achievements in Rural and community development, Safety, Health,
Tree plantation, a forestation, clean mining, Environment awareness and protection-:

36
 National Award for outstanding performance in promoting rural and
agricultural development – by ASSOCHAM

 Sword of Honour - by British Safety Council, United Kingdom for excellence in

safety performance.
 Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award --- by The Ministry of Environment
and Forests for "extraordinary work" carried out in the area of afforestation.
 FICCI Award --- for innovative measures for control of pollution, waste
management & conservation of mineral resources in mines and plant.
 Subh Karan Sarawagi Environment Award - by The Federation of Indian
Mineral Industries for environment protection measures.
 Drona Trophy - By Indian Bureau Of Mines for extra ordinary efforts in
protection of Environment and mineral conservation in the large mechanized
mines sector.
 Indo German Greentech Environment Excellence Award
 Golden Peacock Environment Management Special Award - for outstanding
efforts in Environment Management in the large manufacturing sector.
 Indira Gandhi Memorial National Award - for excellent performance in
prevention of pollution and ecological development
 Excellence in Management of Health, Safety and Environment : Certificate of
Merit by Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association
 Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar trophy for outstanding performance in
safety and mine working
 Good Corporate Citizen Award - by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
 Jamnalal Bajaj Uchit Vyavahar Puraskar - Certificate of Merit by Council for
Fair Business Practices
 Greentech Safety Gold and Silver Awards - for outstanding performance in
Safety management systems by Greentech Foundation
 FIMI National Award - for valuable contribution in Mining activities from the
Federation of Indian Mineral Industry under the Ministry of Coal.
 Rajya Sthariya Paryavaran Puraskar - for outstanding work in Environmental
Protection and Environment Performance by the Madhya Pradesh Pollution.
Control Board.
 National Award for Fly Ash Utilisation - by Ministry of Power, Ministry of
Environment & Forests and Dept of Science & Technology, Govt of India - for
manufacture of Portland Pozzolana Cement

37
 Good Corporate Citizen Award - by Bombay Chamber of Commerce and
Industry for working towards an environmentally sustainable industry while
pursuing the objective of creation of a better society.
 National Award for Excellence in Water Management - by the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII)

38
39
 DATA ANALYSIS ANDINTERPRETATION
All the observations are based on the primary data collected through questionnaire filled
by customers.

A copy of the customer’s questionnaire is attached in the annexure. The research anaylis
of the question is given below.

Question 1: Do sales promotional schemes effect buying decision of customer’s.

Observation:

Choice No. of response % age

Very much 52 26
To some extent 80 40
Not at all 48 24
Can't say 20 10

40
80
60
40
No. of response
20
% age
0
Very To Not at Can't
much some all say
extent

41
Question 2: Do Customers try to purchase new product through sales promotion?

Observation:

No.of %
Choice response age
Yes 112 56

No 88 44

120
100
80
Yes
60
No
40
20
0
No. of response % age

NEW PRODUCT PURCHASE

44% Yes
56% No

42
Question 3: To What extent a Cement company’s sales promotional schemes can bind
the repeat Purchase?

Observation:

No.of
Choice response % age
Very much 36 18
To some
extent 76 38
Not at all 28 14
Can't say 60 30

80

60

40 No. of response
20 % age

0
Very To some Not at Can't
much extent all say

ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION IN

REPEAT PURCHASE

18% Very much

30%
To some extent
Not at all
14% 38%
Can't say

43
Question 4: What type of promotional schemes attract to buying product in Cement
industry?

Observation:

Choice No. of response % age

Price discount 64 32
Price pack deals 56 28
Coupons 32 16
Contests 48 24

70
60
50
40
30
No. of response
20
10 % age
0
Price Price Coupans Contests
discouynt pack
deals

44
 BEST PROMOTIONAL SCHEME

24% Price discount

32%
Price pack deals
Coupons
16%
28% Contests

45
Question 5: It is again a closed-ended question that asked the customers to rank the features that
they consider while buying the product.

This ranking was done on features such as price, product feature and service, brand
image, sales promotion and advertising.

Observation:

PRODUCT
FEATURE
Serial No.of AND BRAND SALES
respondent PRICE SERVICE IMAGE PROMOTION ADVERTISING
1 1 2 6 3 4
2 1 2 3 4 5
3 6 5 2 1 3
4 1 5 3 2 4
5 6 2 3 1 4
6 2 4 3 1 5
7 5 1 2 3 4
8 3 1 4 2 5
9 3 5 4 1 2
10 6 4 2 1 3
11 1 3 2 5 4
12 1 3 2 5 6
13 1 5 4 6 7
14 3 1 4 6 7
15 1 2 3 4 7
16 3 2 4 1 7
17 7 5 6 3 4
18 1 3 2 4 6
19 1 3 2 4 6
20 5 1 4 2 3
21 2 3 1 5 6
22 1 2 4 3 7
23 2 4 1 3 6
24 1 4 2 3 7
25 3 2 4 1 7
26 4 5 1 6 7
27 1 3 2 6 5
28 3 1 2 5 6
29 3 1 2 6 7
30 3 1 2 4 6
31 3 1 2 4 6
32 3 1 2 4 6

46
33 3 1 2 4 6
34 1 3 2 4 5
35 4 1 2 3 6
36 4 1 5 6 7
37 1 2 4 3 5
38 2 1 4 3 5
39 4 2 3 1 5
40 7 1 2 3 5
41 1 4 3 2 6
42 4 1 3 2 6
43 1 4 2 3 5
44 2 1 4 3 7
45 2 1 3 5 4
46 4 2 3 1 7
47 1 2 4 3 5
48 1 2 3 6 5
49 1 3 2 4 6
50 1 3 2 5 6
51 2 1 3 4 5
52 1 2 4 6 7
53 3 1 2 4 7
54 1 3 2 6 7
55 1 2 4 3 6
56 1 7 3 8 5
57 1 2 5 3 4
58 1 2 3 5 6
59 1 2 4 3 7
60 1 3 2 4 7
61 1 2 3 5 7
62 1 4 2 6 7
63 1 2 3 4 6
64 1 2 4 3 5
65 1 2 5 6 4
66 4 3 2 1 5
67 3 4 5 1 2
68 1 3 2 5 6
69 3 1 2 4 5
70 3 1 4 2 7
71 1 3 2 4 6
72 1 3 2 5 4
73 4 3 1 2 6
74 2 7 4 1 3
75 2 3 4 1 6
76 1 2 3 4 6
77 4 3 2 1 7

47
78 5 1 3 2 7
79 3 4 2 1 6
80 2 4 3 5 1
81 1 4 2 3 6
82 1 3 5 4 6
83 5 4 2 3 7
84 2 1 3 4 5
85 1 6 4 2 5
86 5 3 2 1 4
87 1 2 4 3 5
88 4 2 1 3 5
89 5 1 2 3 6
90 4 1 2 3 5
91 2 1 3 4 6
92 3 4 5 1 2
93 1 2 3 4 5
94 3 7 6 4 2
95 2 1 3 4 5
96 2 4 1 3 7
97 2 3 5 6 7
98 2 3 4 5 7
99 2 3 4 5 7
100 3 2 5 1 4
101 3 4 1 2 5
102 5 3 2 1 4
103 5 2 3 4 1
104 5 3 1 2 6
105 2 5 3 1 6
106 1 4 2 5 6
107 1 5 2 3 6
108 1 3 2 4 6
109 1 4 3 5 6
110 1 3 2 5 6
111 1 3 2 4 6
112 4 1 2 5 3
113 1 4 2 5 6
114 1 2 3 5 4
115 3 2 4 1 5
116 1 3 2 4 7
117 4 1 2 5 6
118 4 1 2 3 6
119 4 1 2 5 6
120 1 4 2 5 6
121 3 1 2 4 6
122 3 1 2 4 6

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123 2 3 1 4 6
124 1 5 2 3 6
125 1 3 2 4 6
126 4 1 2 3 7
127 1 2 4 3 5
128 4 2 3 1 5
129 4 3 2 1 6
130 5 3 2 1 4
131 4 3 1 2 5
132 7 1 3 2 4
133 2 1 3 4 5
134 7 4 3 1 2
135 4 1 2 3 5
136 3 4 2 1 5
137 1 2 4 3 6
138 2 4 3 1 5
139 5 2 1 4 3
140 3 4 2 1 5
141 4 2 5 1 3
142 5 1 6 2 7
143 3 2 4 1 6
144 3 2 4 1 6
145 2 4 5 1 6
146 3 4 2 1 5
147 5 2 3 1 4
148 4 5 2 1 6
149 6 3 2 1 4
150 5 1 2 3 4
151 6 4 3 1 2
152 2 4 6 3 5
153 3 7 1 2 4
154 7 1 2 3 4
155 4 1 3 2 5
156 2 3 4 1 7
157 1 2 3 6 5
158 3 2 5 1 6
159 6 2 3 1 5
160 4 3 5 2 6
161 2 3 4 1 7
162 1 3 4 2 6
163 4 3 2 1 6
164 4 1 2 3 6
165 1 2 4 3 6
166 6 1 3 2 5
167 1 2 3 4 6

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168 3 1 2 4 7
169 1 7 3 2 4
170 7 4 3 1 2
171 1 6 3 2 4
172 6 1 4 2 3
173 7 1 3 2 4
174 6 7 2 1 3
175 4 7 2 1 3
176 1 6 3 2 4
177 1 7 4 2 3
178 4 3 5 1 2
179 5 4 2 1 3
180 1 2 3 4 5
181 3 2 1 4 5
182 1 2 3 4 5
183 6 1 2 3 4
184 6 5 3 2 4
185 1 4 3 2 5
186 5 3 2 1 6
187 4 3 2 1 5
188 1 5 2 3 6
189 1 2 3 4 5
190 1 2 4 3 7
191 1 2 3 4 6
192 4 1 3 2 7
193 3 1 2 4 6
194 2 1 3 4 6
195 3 4 2 1 6
196 1 5 3 4 6
197 1 5 4 2 3
198 6 2 7 1 3
199 2 1 3 4 5
200 1 7 5 3 4
Total=200 2.76 2.77 2.9 3.0 5.2
PRODUCT
FEATURE
AND BRAND SALES
  PRICE SERVICE IMAGE PROMOTION ADVERTISING

Points 4 5 3 2 1

Rank 2 1 3 4 5

.
.

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51
 OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS

 The first question aims at ascertaining to what extend sales promotion schemes
effect customer purchase decision in Cement industry. Today when infinite
number of price wars are going in Cement sector, the customers is no more a
usual customer but a profitable customer waiting everything at price discount and
hence lets see what maximum respondents have to say about it and 40%
respondent thinks sales promotion effects their buying decision only to some
extend while 26% i.e. the second maximum lot says its very much effective.

So we can “PRICE DOES MATTER!”

 The customer always looks for making best deal by spending less and buying
more. The customers will buy only those items that have certain discount, free
gifts, contest and priced-packed deals .

Hence as customer impulsively buy the product with some or other kind of
product promotions, customers do try new product as the new marketer is quite
familiar with this aspect of consumer behavior and when asked the respondent
that do they try new products because of sales promotion, they have a positive
answer for this as 56 % people agrees that they do try new product cause of sales
promotional schemes.

 Today, when there is steel a trend of “me-too-“ product it is very different for
customers to make a distinction between them and decide to buy one, here the
role of promotional scheme mainly price discounts come in where customers go
by there affordability factor and mostly buy’s a product with price discount.

Hence we tried to ascertain the extend of customer retention affective ness do

various sales promotional schemes and maximum about 48 % respondent said that
these schemes can bind the customer only to some extent while 23% says its very
much effective for customer retention

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 As I previously said if there is no product distinction then promotional activities
the one that because the deciding basis for customer. If company’s or any other
channel member gives any discount or price pack then customer will continue on
buying its, as it gets satisfied from the product for that first time .The company’s
can further delight them by introducing schemes from time to time.

 There are various kind of promotional schemes available in the Cement market but
its very important for the market to know what kind of promotion schemes will
increase the sale of his product and hence when asked about 32% respondent says
that price discount attracts them most and then comes price pack deals (28%),
contest (24%) and coupons (16%).

 The last question what ask to know exactly what is rank or position of S.P.S. while
a customer makes the purchase decision and how important role plays in the
purchase decision.

According to this ranking the most important basis for a customer purchase product
feature and quality, price, brand image, sales promotion schemes, advertising. Hence we
can see that sales promotional schemes holds the 4th position but are important in
deciding the purchase decision as it gives a incentive for choosing a particular product.

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 LIMITATIONS

1. The first problem I faced is in getting the co-operation of the customers. Many of
the respondents I approached did not agree to the need and utility of surveys and
hence did not agree to provide me with information.

2. The second problem faced by me was in getting the required secondary data,
sorting them, photocopying and organizing them according to my need.

3. In my stipulated duration, I was unable to do a detailed study of the project.

4. As the sample size of the survey was so small and comprise of only 200
customers, and at random basis the survey may be biased, as it’s not representing
the whole Allahabad

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 CONCLUSIONS

Unfortunately, most marketing and practice center on the art of attracting new customer
rather then on retaining existing ones. The emphasis traditionally has been on marketing
sales rather then building relationship; on pre-selling and selling rather then caring for the
customer afterward.
We all know that the key to customer retention is customer satisfaction. A satisfied
customer that stays loyal to their product, buys more as company’s introduces new
product ad upgrades existing products, talks favour about the and company and further
offers product or service ideas to the company’s.
People believe that it’s important for retaining existing customer than attracting new
ones. But I say one emerges from the others. Sales promotion schemes are the key that
temporary incentive to purchase or induce trials, they play an important in introduction of
product to customer, if the product is good customer will be satisfied and hence retained.
Promotion helps in setting the people know about the utility of new products .It also tells
them now the concerned product will be helpful in satisfying their needs.
Further the sales promotion schemes can it self-buying the customers to the product by
the help of price discounts that is an important basis for purchase decision for “me-too”
products.
Sales promotion further support customer’s buying decision and hence stabiles sales
volume by reassuring the customer about the quality and price of the product it is
possible that a customer using a particular brand may buy another because the other
brand is promotional in effective manners.
Hence I conclude that sales promotions plays one of the important role in customer
satisfaction that in turn leads to customer retention.

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 SUGGESTIONS

1. First of all it’s very essential for the market to work on it product quality, if
quality is good, the product will sell no matter how many competitor it has in
market.

2. As far as winning the competition is concern the market should concentrate on

different type of promotion in the market reassuring the customer about the
quality and price of the product .

3. A good company in order to build its goodwill must try to promote sales with
price discounts, POP items, and contests.

4. Sales promotion helps in building relationship with other channel members like
retailers, wholesalers and dealers, hence must be introduce from time-to-time.

5. A Cement Company should always try to introduce one or other type of sales
promotional scheme so that customer can don’t loose interest in the company.

6. A Cement Company should give only that kind promotional scheme to a product
that suits and work well. Like free gifts with consumer bur bales, contest with
automobiles, etc.

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 ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Does sales promotional schemes affect your buying decision?

Very much To some extent Not at all can’t say

2. Do customer try a product of a cement company because of sales

promotional schemes?

Yes No.

3. To what extent cement company’s sales promotional schemes can

bind you
to its repeat purchase?

Very much To some extent Not at all can’t say.

4. What type of promotional schemes attracts you?

(i) Price discount

(ii) Price pack deals
(iii) POP Items
(iv) Contests/ Tours

5. Which is the most important basis for you in your purchases?

(i) Product features.

(ii) Brand image.
(iii) Advertising.
(iv) Sales promotional schemes.
(v) Price.
(vi) Services(After &Before).

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Personal details of respondent:

Name:__________________________________

Sex : Male Female

Age :
18-25

26-35

35-50

Above 50

Occupation:

Government service

Private Service

Business

Dealer\Subdealer

Others.

Place: Signature:

Date:

58
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

 Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin; “Marketing Management ,12th edition”

 Goel, B.C. ; “Marketing Management”
 Chunawala, S.A.. ; “ sales and distribution management”
 Gupta,S.L.; “Consumer Behaviour In Indian Perspective”

Magazines:

 Business World
 Pitch
 Brand reporter
 4Ps

Websites:

 www.askacc.com
 www.acclimited.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.afaqs.com
 www.karukrit.com

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