PROJECT REPORT

On
“Understanding Market for Composite Cement”

SIP Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
PGDM Programme

By Suktika Banerjee
2017111058

Supervisors: 1.Company Guide: Mr. Jayanta Mondal

2. Faculty Guide: Dr. Narendra Y Phadnis

Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur

2017 - 19

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a matter of great satisfaction and pleasure to present this report on “Understanding Market
for Composite Cement”. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all those involved in
my internship.

A holistic development indeed comes with classroom learning put into practice of industry
learning. The Summer Internship Programme 2018 was one such experience which gave
me the basis to fulfill my corporate learning. These 10 weeks of internship at Nuvoco Vistas
Corp. Ltd(Formerly Lafarge India Ltd.) have imbibed in me, a significant learning of the cement
industry at large and also provided some key takeaways as a marketer.

Firstly I would like to thank Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd.(formerly Lafarge India Ltd.) for giving
me the opportunity to complete my project in their esteemed organization.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my
industry guide Mr.Jayanta Mondal, for his exemplary guidance, valuable feedback and constant
encouragement throughout the duration of the project. His valuable suggestions were of immense
help throughout. It has amazingly fortunate for me to have had Mr.Mondal as an advisor who
gave me the freedom to explore on my own and at the same time the guidance to recover when
my steps faltered. Working under him was an extremely knowledgeable experience for me.

I owe my sincere gratitude to Dr. Narendra Y Phadnis, for making this project possible through
his efforts and helping me pave my way to the successful completion of this report. He helped
me in overcoming all the hurdles that came along the way.

Last but not the least, I would also like to thank the other members of the organization with
whom I have interacted during the course of my project and also my family and classmates for
their kind co-operation, encouragement and useful insights, which helped me in the completion
of this project.

Suktika Banerjee

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SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION CERTIFICATE

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Serial no. TOPIC Page no.

1. INTRODUCTION 5

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 6

3. DESCRIPTION OF CONCEPTS AND MODEL
INTRODUCED IN THE STUDY 7-9

4. COMPANY ANALYSIS 10-16

5. TABULATIONS AND FINDINGS/RESULTS 17-28

6. INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 29-31

7. RECOMMENDATIONS 32

8. LIMITIONS OF THE STUDY 33

9. SCOPE FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS 34

10. APPENDIX 35-39

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY 40

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 1.INTRODUCTION

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. (formerly Lafarge India Limited) has been a part of the Indian
construction landscape since 1999; through its cement business. It currently has six cement and
close to sixty five ready mix concrete plants in India. It has an established presence across all
major cities and towns in India. It endeavors to deliver excellence at all times and provide
innovative solutions in: Cements, Ready Mix Concrete (RMX) & Aggregates and Value Added
Products.

Nuvoco’s main market operations are in the eastern and northern parts of the country. Roughly
East being its key market with 80% of its operations and North covering the remaining 20%.

So, the project I was assigned to do was that of understanding the market for composite cement
in the eastern markets of Nuvoco i.e in the 5 states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and
West Bengal.

Composite Cement is the latest entrant in the family of blended cements, which is manufactured
by blending ground clinker with slag and fly ash. In short this category of cement is very new in
the Indian Cement Industry and is a sub-category of blended cement. When we say blended
cement, we mainly mean to say it comprises of Portland Slag Cement i.e PSC and Portland
Pozzolana Cement i.e PPC.
I was offered this Summer Internship for 10 weeks mainly for carrying out this research as at
present this topic i.e evaluating the market for composite cement is of strategic importance to the
company as a few of its competitors have already entered this category.
During this tenure, I worked directly under the Assistance General Manager- Market Research at
the Kolkata Office of Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. My entire project was divided into modules
scheduled across the 10 weeks.

The first part of the research included gathering data through Secondary Research wherein, I had
to gather data from desk research and online sources and the second part of the project comprised
of Primary Research- where information was gathered through telephonic interviews with over
350 dealers, sub-dealers and influencers(contractors/masons) across all the 5 states.

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 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To understand what are the different types of Cement available. And to understand what
does composite cement as a category mean.
2. To find out the different Composite Cement brands which are currently available in the
market and from which manufacturers and in which markets, those brands are available.
3. To understand the current size of Composite Cement category and the shares of different
Composite Cement brands.
4. To gather market feedback of the Category from Channel Partners (Dealers / Sub-Dealers) &
Influencers (Masons / Contractors) in order to evaluate the options to enter the category.

Points 1,2,3 from Secondary Research and 4 from Primary Survey (Telephonic):

2.1 Roles and Responsibilities

 To carry out Secondary Reasearch /Desk Research for collecting data from various
composite cement manufacturers’ websites, articles, news, reports on composite cement
available on the internet and drafting of report on the same for gaining an indepth
understanding of what this new category of cement is all about and for finding out which
are brands of competitors which have already entered into this category, collecting
pictures of their bags in order to know their packaging for further using this information
while designing of questionnaire in the second part of the study.
 To design a questionnaire for administering it by conducting telephonic interviews with
around 350 dealers, sub-dealers and influencers which is second part of the project
comprising of Primary Research in order to find out the footprints of the various existing
composite cement brands, their prices, market acceptance etc. across various pockets in
the 5 targeted states .
 To prepare individual state wise reports showing details of market availability, price
range and differential status presence of the various composite cement brands across
markets in the 5 states. And also to prepare a comparative snapshot of all 5 states.
 Also, to do research and draft report on any relevant topic to the company as and when
required or instructed by my mentor.

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 3.DESCRIPTION OF CONCEPTS AND MODEL INTRODUCED IN
THE STUDY
3.1 Marketing Research

“Marketing research is a systematic problem analysis, model building and fact finding for the
purpose of improved decision-making and control in the marketing of goods and services.”-
Philip Kotler.

The various functions of marketing research are as follows -

Research Methodology adopted for the study:

PART-1:SECONDARY
RESEARCH
(Data collected from Online
Sources like company websites,
news, articles etc.)

MARKET RESEARCH

PART-2: PRIMARY
RESEARCH
(Datacollected from
questionnaire administered
through Telephonic interviews
with dealers, sub-dealers and
influencers)
Figure:1 Research Methodology used

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➢ Data – Data through primary research was gathered through telephonic interviews with
around 350 dealers, sub-dealers and influencers(contractors/masons) across all the 5 states ,
average time of each call being around 15-20 minutes. Secondary data was mainly collected
from companies’ websites and other articles, news available online.

➢Tool for Analysis – No mathematical and statistical tool was used apart from Pivot in
Microsoft Excel for analyzing the data due to qualitative nature of data and also as the volume of
data to be worked on wasn’t huge.

➢ Sample Size –In total 349 dealers, sub-dealers and influencers were interviewed via telephone
as a part of our Primary Research where the selection of our sample size i.e no. of dealers, sub-
dealers and influencers to be called up across different districts in the 5 states was carefully
picket up so that it covered all the districts across the 5 states in order to ensure reliability of the
data.

3.2 S.T.P model (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning)

STP stands for:

Step 1: Segment your market.

Step 2: Target your customers.

Step 3: Position your offering.

As the Eastern cement market in India comprises of 5 different states namely Bihar, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal each comprising of several districts with varying
geographical locations. So it was important to use STP model.

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 Geographic – By region for example, there is a good demand for premium cement
brands in the Eastern part of the country as compared to the northern markets. So,
keeping this point in mind our research was designed to be conducted in the 5 States of
East as composite cement also comes under the category of premium cement brands.
Also even within these states, in the East clearly different patterns of price ranges
were observed based on geographical location of the states. For eg. Chhattisgarh
market was found to be more price sensitive as compared to the other 4 states.

Usage Specific- It was observed that the market for composite cement is usage
specific. For example: It is primarily used for concreting work and by Individual House
Builders and not for government promoters or builders where instead OPC is more
preferred.

Our target market comprised of the 5 States in Eastern part of the country- Bihar, Jharkhand,
Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. As these markets are cluttered with various cement
brands and also offer a scope of portfolio expansion. Moreover, there is a significant demand
for premium cement brands in these markets.

It was observed that the composite cement brands launched by our competitors in different
markets have been positioned as a superior category of an existing premium brand of the
company. For example ACC’s composite cement F2R Superfast was launched just by adding
the word Superfast to its successful ACC F2R brand. Again, JK Lakshmi’s Composite cement
was launched under the name of Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard adding the term
“Steel Guard” with its popular Platinum Heavy Duty Cement-PPC Brand. In a nutshell the aim
is to position composite cement brand as a premium brand of cement in the minds of the
customers.

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 4. COMPANY ANALYSIS

4.1 Brief Introduction

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. (formerly Lafarge India Limited) has been a part of the Indian
construction landscape since 1999; through its cement business. It currently has six cement and
close to sixty five ready mix concrete plants in India. It has an established presence across all
major cities and towns in India. It endeavors to deliver excellence at all times and provide
innovative solutions in: Cements, Ready Mix Concrete (RMX) & Aggregates and Value Added
Products.

Also, talking about the industry it is a part of, India is the second largest producer of cement in
the world. No wonder, India's cement industry is a vital part of its economy, providing
employment to more than a million people, directly or indirectly. Ever since it was deregulated
in 1982, the Indian cement industry has attracted huge investments, both from Indian as well as
foreign investors.

India has a lot of potential for development in the infrastructure and construction sector and the
cement sector is expected to largely benefit from it. Some of the recent major initiatives such as
development of 98 smart cities are expected to provide a major boost to the sector. A significant
factor which aids the growth of this sector is the ready availability of the raw materials for
making cement, such as limestone and coal.

The predecessor company was incorporated as a 100% subsidiary of Lafarge SA

France. Following divestment from Lafarge Holcim, it became a part of Nirma Limited. In 2017
Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd., the new name of the company, was registered. They continue to sell
products under the brand names Concreto/ Duraguard/ PSC/ Infracem Cement, ZeroM Water-
Proofing Compound, Artiste, Agile, Steelibre, Polibre, Instante, Robuste, Xlite, Lente,
Regletherme, Fluide, Easyfille and Instamix for a period of time.

Currently it has 6 Cement Plants across India located in: Jojobera, Mejia, Arasmata, Sonadih,
Chittor and Bhiwani.

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4.2 Company’s Ideology

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. (formerly Lafarge India Limited) has an established presence across
all major cities and towns in India. We respond to the needs driven by our customers, business
associates, shareholders, regional authorities and local communities. With our specialist
solutions under Cement, Aggregates and Concrete, we aim to enable and empower customers by
bringing innovation and ensuring sustainability to their construction.

4.2.1 Vision

Building a Safer, Smarter and Sustainable World

Safer: for everyone associated with us and our customers with superior quality of products.

Smarter: for discerning customers with our contemporary, innovative and value- for- money
solutions.

Sustainable: Sustainable buildings and infrastructure; and responsibility towards environment.

4.2.2 Mission

We are a reliable construction materials organisation that contributes to Nation building by

providing innovative and best-in-class products and services; from home building to
infrastructure projects.

4.2.3 Values

 Integrity: Absolutely non-negotiable value. Ethics, honesty, fairness and transparency.

Honour commitments.

 Innovation: Identifying novel ideas that create value. Breakthrough creativity. Superior
customer satisfaction. Intelligent, inclusive and strategic.

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  Care: Caring for everyone and in everything we create. Safety above all. Compassion
and concern. HSE and compliance. Respect and support. customer care and quality
products. Serving communities, partners and customers.

 Collaboration: Fundamentally believing in synergies and leveraging collective strength.

Building mutual trust and team work. Free flowing knowledge. Sustainable relationships.
Partnership with internal and external stakeholders.

 Operational Excellence: Speed, agility, competence development- . Being the best in

everything we do. Leverage knowledge and expertise. Incremental improvements.
Speedy actions, optimal costs. Best in quality.

My Observation: During the tenure of my internship with Nuvoco something that I realized
every next second was that, Safety is given top most priority here making it one of the most
important core values of the company. Various activities and programs are organized to spread
awareness about safety measures. I witnessed a couple of Safety Week quizzes taking place on
Fridays, Safety awareness talks, mock fire drills etc. Moreover, every employee is aware of the
emergency exit doors and all the safety measures to be taken in case of an emergency situation at
the workplace to avoid casualties.

During one of the conversations with the HR Head, I remember him saying safety is a core value
here not only because the company values the lives of its employees but also because it believes
in saving a lot of cost through that. One loss of life in a plant can cost the company in lakhs, be
it in terms of compensation, settling legal cases etc. So they believe in promoting the need for
safety of the employees.

3.3 Current Offerings: (in the Cement Category)

Nuvoco cements are among the foremost in the industry. Concreto, Duraguard Microfiber are
some of the most premium products available today.

What makes us stand out ? Our variants have an edge over others with

- innovations from our world class experts

- best BIS standards rating, and

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- best raw materials available gives our products a premium quality

Some of Nuvoco’s well known cement brands are:

 Lafarge Concreto Cement : Category- Portland Slag Cement (PSC)

 Lafarge Duraguard Cement: Category- Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
 Lafarge Duraguard Microfiber: Category- Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
 Lafarge PSC Premium Cement : Category- Portland Slag Cement (PSC)
 Lafarge Infracem Premium Cement: Category- Ordinary Portland Cement, 53 Grade

1. Concreto 2. Duraguard 3.Duraguard Micro Fiber

5. Infracem
4. Premium Slag Premium
Cement Cement

Figure 2: Images of Bags of Nuvoco’s Cement Brands.

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4.4. Functional working of the department and its integration with other
departments

As my internship was in market research, my reporting department was Marketing.

During the tenure I was the only intern interning with them, so was fortunate enough to get an
opportunity to closely observe the functioning of the marketing department as the cubicle I was
given was right next to the Market Research AGM’s( my industry guide) cubicle. The cubicle
was located right in the center of the department which made me feel very much a part of it.

The marketing department at Nuvoco has a significant role in the context of overall company
objectives and strategies . It takes care of all the marketing and branding decisions of the
organization be it in terms of strategic or tactical moves.
Moreover, since the company is in a transition phase at present after disinvestment from Lafarge
holcim being a part of Nirma, it has an even more vital role to play in the whole re-branding
exercise.
Some of the major functions carried out by the marketing department at Nuvoco are:
 Branding
 CRM
 Trade Marketing
 Product Decisions
 Packaging
 Customer Service (Technical)
 Digital Marketing (being the newest)
 Research

If asked how market research fits into marketing. It would to be appropriate to say it helps in
making informed decisions after studying the market well. For instance in this project it was
important to understand the market for composite cement in order to evaluate the procs and cons
of entering into the category or if at all it would be profitable to enter the composite cement
category.

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Something which was worth noting was how effortlessly all the departments function and co-
ordinate with each other on daily basis and the kind of flexibility they reflect when it comes to
taking decisions in emergency situations. Co-ordination between the departments in this business
is of utmost importance as otherwise it may cost the company extra charge per bag of cement
resulting in huge losses in case of a lack of communication.

The various functioning departments at Nuvoco’s Eastern Operating Office are:

 Marketing
 Sales
 Logistics
 Production/Industrial
 Procurement
 It
 Finance and Accounting
 Human Resources
 Legal

As already mentioned above clearly there is a good co-ordination between all the departments in
the organization be it between the production-logistics and sales departments when it comes to
tracking of dispatch of a wagon or between the Marketing and Sales departments during the
launch of a new brand. As per my observation and understanding the marketing department
formulates strategies which are executed on the ground by the sales team.

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4.5 Relevance of the project in the context of overall company objectives and
strategies with a hostic approach cutting across various functional areas

The project “Understanding Market for Composite Cement” was of strategic importance to the
organization as at present one of the best strategies for Nuvoco would be maximization of
premium in terms of pricing and this is what exactly the composite category can offer. The logic
behind this being, as all the 6 cement plants of Nuvoco are operating at 99% efficiency and have
already reached their production efficiency. Therefore, there is more demand for its brands than
what it can actually supply. And acquiring new plants are definitely not an alternative during this
phase of transition. So, entering into a category of cement which can enable it charge a premium
could help.

The objective of the study was to find the category attractiveness of composite cement. As this is
the latest entrant in the family of blended cements, it is very new in the Indian Market.
Moreover, not much readily available information could be obtained regarding the category
attractiveness of this cement so carrying out the research actually helped us gain a clear pattern
of its footprints, acceptance, price range etc. across different markets in the five target states of
Eastern India. For this initially I had to carry out a secondary research in order to find out the
composite cement brands which are already there in the market and then trace each brand’s
footprint across the various districts in the 5 states- Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and
West Bengal via primary research. I had to prepare both individual state wise report for each of
the 5 states and also a comparative snapshot report by the end of the second part of my project i.e
after the primary research. These reports were verified by my industry guide and then an official
copy of the same was circulated to the marketing and sales department.

Moreover, this project was a hot topic of discussion even in marketing strategy meetings as per
the AGM-Market Research. This gave me a lot of motivation to give my 100% into this project. I
was also praised for the kind of precision and perfection I tried to bring in to my reports while
doing the study.

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 5. TABULATION AND FINDINGS/RESULT

Table 1: Table showing Percentage of Respondents claiming Awareness of

specific Composite Cement Brands and Market Availability across 5 states

BRANDS WEST
BIHAR JHARKHAND ODISHA CHHATTISGARH
BENGAL

AMBUJA
24% 30% 43% 32% 39%
COMPOCEM

MP BIRLA
CEMENT
20% 11% 4% 12% 18%
ULTIMATE
ULTRA

PLATINUM
HEAVY DUTY
CEMENT-STEEL
- 11% - 40% -
GUARD (JK
LAKSHMI
CEMENT)

DALMIA /
KONARK
13% 23% 32% 2% 21%
COMPOSITE
CEMENT

MAHA SOLID
COMPOSITE - - 18% 1% 1%
CEMENT

ACC F2R
10% 9% 21% 19% 22%
SUPERFAST

BASE 91 44 56 81 77

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Table 2: Table depicting presence of specific Composite Cement Brands in “x”
no. of districts out of total no. of districts covered in the survey in each state

BRANDS
WEST
BIHAR JHARKHAND ODISHA CHHATTISGARH
BENGAL

AMBUJA
15 12 16 16 13
COMPOCEM

MP BIRLA CEMENT
15 5 2 7 10
ULTIMATE ULTRA

PLATINUM HEAVY
DUTY CEMENT-
- 6 - 16 -
STEEL GUARD (JK
LAKSHMI CEMENT)

DALMIA / KONARK
COMPOSITE 9 8 12 2 9
CEMENT

MAHA SOLID
COMPOSITE - - 8 1 1
CEMENT

ACC F2R
7 4 10 9 13
SUPERFAST

No. of Districts Covered

38 23 23 25 23
in the Survey

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Table 3: Table showing Price Range of specific Composite Cement Brands and
across 5 states as per respondents’ claims.

BRANDS
CHHATTISGAR WEST
BIHAR JHARKHAND ODISHA
H BENGAL

Rs. 275-300/
AMBUJA Rs.350-380/ Rs. 340 – 360/ Rs. 240-265/
Rs. 310-340/ Rs.360-380
COMPOCEM Rs.390-400 Rs. 380 Rs. 270-285
Rs.350

MP BIRLA
Rs. 335 – 360 Rs. 360 – 370/ Rs.350 Rs. 240-250/
CEMENT Rs.360-375
Rs. 395 Rs. 275-280
ULTIMATE ULTRA

PLATINUM HEAVY
DUTY CEMENT-
Rs. 235-255/
STEEL GUARD (JK - Rs. 370 – 380 - -
Rs. 260-280
LAKSHMI
CEMENT)

DALMIA / KONARK Rs. 270-290/

Rs. 320-350/ Rs. 285-300/ Rs. Rs. 310-325/
COMPOSITE Rs.300-310/
Rs.390-400 350-360 Rs. 330-350
CEMENT Rs.340-350

MAHA SOLID
Rs.240-270/
COMPOSITE - - Rs. 250 Rs.320
Rs.280-295
CEMENT

ACC F2R Rs.290-310/ Rs.240-260/ Rs. 370-385/

Rs.380-415 Rs.390 – 395
SUPERFAST Rs. 330-355 Rs.270 Rs. 400-410

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Composite Cement Footprint in various districts across 5 States
1. BIHAR

INDEX
Map 1: Footprint of Composite Cement AmbujaCompocem
Brands in various districts across Bihar MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra

Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel

Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
Dalmia Cement’s Composite Cement/
Konark PCC Composite

ACC F2R SUPERFAST

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 2. JHARKHAND

INDEX
Map 2: Footprint of Composite Cement Ambuja Compocem
Brands in various districts across MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
Jharkhand.
Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel
Guard (JK Lakshmi Cement)
Dalmia Cement’s Composite Cement/
Konark PCC Composite

ACC F2R SUPERFAST

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3.ODISHA

Map 3: Footprint of Composite Cement INDEX

Brands in various districts across Odisha Ambuja Compocem
MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
Dalmia Cement’s Composite Cement/
Konark PCC Composite
ACC F2R SUPERFAST

Maha Solid Composite Cement

Not a part of Survey

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4. CHHATTISGARH

Map 4: Footprint of Composite INDEX

Cement Brands in various districts AmbujaCompocem
across Chhattisgarh MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra

Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel

Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
Dalmia Cement’s Composite Cement/
Konark PCC Composite
ACC F2R SUPERFAST

Maha Solid Composite Cement

Not included in Survey

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5. WEST BENGAL

INDEX
Map 5: Footprint of Composite Cement Brands Ambuja Compocem
in various districts across West Bengal MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra

Maha Solid Composite Cement

Dalmia Composite / Konark
Composite Cement
ACC F2R SUPERFAST

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Key Findings / Inferences extracted from the Telephonic Interviews – State
Wise:
BIHAR:
 Different brands of Composite Cementsare present across most districts in Bihar except
extreme East pockets like Araria and Kishanganj and southern pockets like Banka, Jamui,
Lakhisarai, Munger, Jehanabad, Kaimur and Arwal.
 Ambuja Compocem has entered into most of the districts in Bihar followed by MP
Cement Ultimate Ultra.
 The channel partners seem to be more interested in stocking Compocem
because of the margin.
 Thus, it can be concluded that Ambuja Compocem is certainly enjoying a
first mover advantage in the composite cement category in Bihar’s market.
 Influencers provided positive response about Ambuja Compocem in terms easy
workability, cohesive mix & good finishing
 Also we found trace of MAHA Cement’s Composite Cement entering into the Bhagalpur
district of Bihar.

In total 91 calls were made to dealers, sub-dealers and influencers across all 38 districts in the
state of Bihar.

JHARKHAND:
 Different brands of Composite Cements are present across most districts in Jharkhand
except extreme South pockets like Khunti and West Singhbhum.
 Ambuja Compocem holds significant foothold across many districts in Jharkhand.
 As per the feedback from our channel partners and influencers, this particular
brand is doing well in most of the districts wherever it’s market availability is
traced.
 In addition to that channel partners seem to be more interested in stocking
Compocem over other composite brands because of the margin it offers.
Also, most of them talked about receiving positive feedback from customers.

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  Thus, it can be concluded that Ambuja Compocem is certainly enjoying a
first mover advantage in the composite cement category in Jharkhand’s
market.
 Gumla district seems to be more PSC driven market and Composite Cement brands like
Ambuja Compocem / Dalmia Composite Cement / Platinum Heavy Duty Steel Guard did
enter into this market but didn’t really do well.

In total 44 calls were made to dealers, sub-dealers and influencers across 23 districts in the
state of Jharkhand (excluding Pakaur).

ODISHA:

 Different brands of Composite Cements are present across most of the districts we
surveyed in except pockets like Nuapada and Sundargarh.
 One of the channel partners in Baragarh claimed that some Ultratech officials said, UT
will bring Composite shortly – however, we have not found similar indication in any
other state.
 Despite Ambuja Compocem being present in most of the districts, we couldn’t find it
making a strong foothold inany districts only except Cuttack.
 On the other hand, ACC F2R SUPERFAST and MAHA Solid Composite Cement have made
a strong foothold in few markets.
 Influencers provided positive response about Ambuja Compocem in terms easy
workability, cohesive mix & good finishing.

In total 56 calls were made to dealers, sub-dealers and influencers across 23 districts in the state
of Odisha out of its 30 districts. Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri,
Nabarangpur and Rayagada were the 7 districts which weren’t a part of our survey.

CHHATTISGARH:
 Different brands of Composite Cementsare present across most districts in Chhattisgarh
except extreme pockets like Balrampur (in north), Kabirdham (in West), Kanker (in
south) and Mahasamund (central east).

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  Also, Composite Cement variants are priced higher than respective Regular variants,
even higher than respective Premium variants in some cases - for example ACC F2R
Superfast is higher priced than ACC F2R.

 Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard (JK Lakshmi Cement’s Composite Cement)
has entered to most of the districts in Chhattisgarh.
 As per the feedback from our channel partners and influencers, this particular
brand has put in a lot of effort in its visibility. However, it hasn’t yet made a
strong foothold in the districts wherever its market availability is traced.
 Also, most of them gave it an average rating in terms of its sales in their
respective markets.

 A common trait spotted in the Chhattisgarh market as per the feedback from our channel
partners and influencers during the survey was that, customers there are quite price
sensitive and are not willing to go for premium brands due to the price factor.

 Influencers provided positive response about Ambuja Compocem in terms of easy

workability, cohesive mix & good finishing

In total 81 calls were made to dealers, sub-dealers and influencers across 25 districts in the state
of Chhattisgarh out of its 27 districts. Bijapur and Sukma were the 2 districts which weren’t a
part of our survey.

WEST BENGAL:
 Different brands of Composite Cements are present across most districts in West Bengal
except in extreme North pockets like Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
 Ambuja Compocem holds significant foothold across many districts in West Bengal.
 As per the feedback from our channel partners and influencers, this particular
brand is doing well in most of the districts wherever it’s market availability is
traced.

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  Also, channel partners seem to be interested in stocking Compocem because
of the margin it offers.
 Also, Ambuja Compocem & Konark Composite Cement have made a strong foothold in
few markets they have entered so far.

In total 77 calls were made to dealers, sub-dealers and influencers across all the 23 districts
in the state of West Bengal.

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 6. INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
The objective of the study was to find the category attractiveness of composite cement. This is
the latest entrant in the family of blended cements and it is very new in the Indian Market.
Carrying out the research actually helped us gain a clear pattern of its footprints, acceptance,
price range etc. across different markets in the five target states of Eastern India. For this
initially a secondary research was carried out in order to find out the composite cement brands
which are already there in the market and then a primary research was conducted in the form of
administering questionnaire via telephonic interview with the company’s dealers, sub-dealers
and influencers( masons and contactors) to trace each brand’s footprint across the various
districts in the 5 states- Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Some of the key interpretations extracted about the footprints of the 6 Composite Cement
Brands in the 5 states are as follows:

AMBUJA COMPOCEM
 Ambuja Compocem is certainly enjoying a first mover advantage in the composite
cement category – quite positive feedback in Jharkhand and Bihar, however not so
positive feedback in other markets, despite having significant foothold in many districts,
more so in Odisha except Cuttack.
 While Influencers have positive usage experience, mostly in terms of easy workability,
cohesive mix & good finishing.
 Channel partners also seem to be more interested in stocking Compocem over other
composite brands because of the margin it offers.
 Also, most of them talked about receiving positive feedback / request for repeat purchase
order from customers.

ACC F2R SUPERFAST

 ACC F2R Superfast has made a significant presence in the states of West Bengal, Odisha
and Chhattisgarh.
 This brand has also been launched as an extension it’s successful premium brand: ACC
F2R, which is probably helping it enjoying a brand name familiarity in its initial phase.

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  Moreover, F2R Superfast hasn’t been marketed as a new category of cement-composite
cement in most of the markets wherever it has been launched. It has been taken mainly as
re-launch of F2R in the name of F2R Superfast with new packaging.
 It is also to be noted that, during the survey we found that ACC F2R has been removed
from quite a few markets and F2R Superfast has been introduced instead @ Rs. 10-15
higher than F2R’s price.

MP BIRLA CEMENT ULTIMATE ULTRA

 Ultimate Ultra has made a significant presence in the states of Bihar and West Bengal.
 It has a decent presence across other states except Odisha, where its presence was merely
found.
 Also, it has been launched as an extension of MP Birla’s previous premium brand - MP
Birla Ultimate.

DALMIA/KONARK COMPOSITE CEMENT

 Dalmia/ Konark Composite Cement are well present in all the 5 states except
Chhattisgarh where it has a mere presence, other players being dominant there.
 During the survey, we found out that its Composite Cement Brand is being sold as
Konark PPC in some markets and as Dalmia Composite in other markets.

PLATINUM HEAVY DUTY CEMENT- STEEL GUARD (JK LAKSHMI CEMENT)

 This brand of composite cement has entered into most of the districts in Chhattisgarh.
 As per the feedback from our channel partners and influencers, this particular
brand has put in a lot of effort in its visibility. However, it hasn’t yet made a
strong foothold in the districts wherever its market availability is traced.
 Also, most of them gave it an average rating in terms of its sales in their
respective markets.
 In Jharkhand, it is to be noted that most of the respondents who claimed the presence of
Platinum Heavy Duty Cement Steel Guard (JK Lakshmi Cement) seemed to be confused
between the same brand’s composite cement and other blended cements because of its
packaging. This might have led to certain confusions in tracing the brand’s footprint.

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  Presence in the other 3 districts i.e in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha has not been traced.
 This brand has also been launched as an extension of it’s premium brand: Platinum
Heavy Duty Cement.

MAHA SOLID COMPOSITE CEMENT

 My Home Industries’ Maha Solid Composite has made a strong foothold in the state
of Odisha.
 We could also find some trace in the states of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh even if
minimal. However, it has a positive feedback in whichever market it is present even
in these states.
 In Bihar too we found a trace of it entering one of its districts soon.

To conclude it can be said that most of the companies have launched their composite cement
brand as an extension of their successful premium brands. For e.g: MP Birla Ultimate Ultra, MP
Birla Cement’s Composite Cement has been launched as an extension of MP Birla’s previous
premium brand - MP Birla Ultimate.

Also, Composite Cement variants are priced higher than respective Regular variants, even higher
than respective Premium variants in some cases - for example ACC F2R Superfast (Composite
Cement) is higher priced than ACC F2R.This simply increases the category attractiveness of
Composite Cement for Nuvoco as at present one of the best strategies, as already mentioned for
the company would be premium mazimization.

Thus, from the above above interpretations it can be concluded that Composite Cement
definitely has a category attractiveness in these 5 states. Although it has just been months since
its launch in the Indian market, but it has managed to make a significant foothold in these 5
states of Eastern part of the country in a very short span of time.

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 7. RECOMMENDATIONS

As there is a category attractiveness , it is recommended for Nuvoco to enter into the Composite
Cement category. This would help the company charge a premium. As at present all the 6 cement
plants of Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd. Are operating 99% efficiency and have reached their
production efficiency, so currently volume selling is not a challenge for Nuvoco as the demand
for its brands is more than what it can supply. And during this phase of transition opening up a
new plant to meet the excess demand is no solution. So, the main concern is how to optimize
profits at this level of production.
Thus, premium maximization can serve as one of the best strategies for the company. And
entering into the composite cement category can definitely help the company charge a premium.
Moreover, in the eastern markets there is demand for premium cement brands unlike in the north.
So, Nuvoco can think of entering into this category of cement with its launch in the eastern
markets first.

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 8. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
 As the primary research was conducted through telephonic interviews with the dealers,
sub-dealers and influencers(contractors, masons and engineers)of the company, it
somehow restricted us from doing an in depth study which could have been possible in
case of face to face interviews. However, since time and resources did not permit us to do
the same we tried our best to frame the questions to be asked to have maximum accuracy.
 Also, in some cases there were confusions regarding few variants of the same brand
among the respondents as they were more habituated differentiating the variants seeing
the bags which could not be shown to them over the phone. However, best possible
measures were taken to avoid such confusions.
 In some cases, we had to face refusal from respondents in helping us with the survey
over telephone. In such cases,had to substitute those respondents with others from the
database.

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 9. SCOPE FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT
 Being in a transition phase and having all their 6 cement plants operating at 99%
efficiency, Nuvoco’s focus should be on coming up with more innovative premium
brands that would enable them to make higher profits by charging premium without
having to incur huge investments in acquiring new plant.
 Even though cement is basically an influencer driven product as majority of customers
lack basic understanding regarding technical aspects of cement.However the industry has
seen some changes in the last 4-5 years where companies have come up with ways to
even influence the customers’ buying decisions directly. Digital marketing has played a
vital role in this exercise. In Nuvoco digital marketing has just started last year but the
results have really been impressive. Recently during this IPL season Nuvoco’s brand
Duraguard’s principal partnership with RCB proved to be a grand success. So according
to me Nuvoco should continue emphasizing on its digital marketing wing as well.

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 APPENDIX

Appendix figure 1: Map showing location of Nuvoco’s 6 cement plants

in India.

Appendix figure 2: A glimpse of Dealers/sub-dealers/influencers

database used for conducting telephonic interviews

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Appendix figure 3: A glimpse of Final Response Sheet- recorded as per
data gathered from respondents

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Appendix figure 3: Questionnaire for admistration through telephonic
interview.

Questionnaire (Part-A)
To Dealers:
Q1. Have you heard of this “particular brand” in the market? (Ask by individual brand one by
one) – “BRAND AWARENESS”
□ Ambuja's Compocem
□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement
□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST
□ Maha Composite

Q2.Do you Currently Stock it?

□ Ambuja's Compocem
□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement
□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST
□ Maha Composite

If No, Ask Ever Stocked?

□ Ambuja's Compocem
□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement
□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST
□ Maha Composite

If No, Ask whether it’s available in this market?

□ Ambuja's Compocem
□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra
□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)
□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement
□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST
□ Maha Composite

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Q3. PRICE POINT QUESTION.
BRAND NAME ABSOLUTE Difference
PRICE w.r.t
REGULAR
BRAND

□ Ambuja's Compocem

□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra

□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement

- Steel Guard( JK Lakshmi Cement)

□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement

□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST

□ Maha Composite

Q4. What kind of feedback have you been receiving from masons and customers regarding the
cement?
Separate questions for Masons / Customer – Need to list Possible response options for post code
(Ask for each of the 6 Brands.)

Q5. Is it better / worse / similar to regular product? (Relative standing question)

Q6. Do you have to push people into buying it or is there a pull in its demand i.e do people
come to you and ask for this particular cement?

Q7. Are you aware, how is this brand is different from other regular brands of market? Any
speciality?

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Questionnaire (Part-B)
To Influencers(masons and contractors):

Q1-Question-1of Part-A remains the same.

Q2--Just replace question no. 2 of Part-A with the question: Do you use it instead of stock
it.
Q3. How do you find its workability ? (Ask for each of the 6 brands) in terms of:
o Easy to Work with
o Initial Setting
o Strength
o Finishing

Q4. Do you have to add more water to it or less? – compared to regular cement
□ Ambuja's Compocem
o More
o Less

□ MP Birla Cement Ultimate Ultra

o More
o Less

□ Platinum Heavy Duty Cement- Steel Guard(JK Lakshmi Cement)

o More
o Less

□ Dalmia Cement's composite cement

o More
o Less

□ ACC F2R SUPERFAST

o More
o Less

Q5. Ask Price Point question for each of the 6 Brands separately( same as question-3 of
Part-A)

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Information on Company Ideology and offerings taken from Nuvoco’s official
website: http://nuvoco.in/
 Information on composite cement taken from various articles, news etc. during
secondary research from sources like:
http://www.cmaindia.org/mc-admin/assets/images/listfiles/mc-
list86295065833135047.pdf
https://www.cemnet.com/News/story/161647/ambuja-compocem-launched.html
www.platinumcement.com/prducts_steel_guard.php
 Few definitions in the theoretical concepts applied part have been taken from 15th
edition of Marketing Management by Philip Kotler, Kelin Lane Keller
 The various Maps used from plotting were taken from:
https://www.mapsofindia.com/

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