SUCCESS STORY OF ASIAN PAINTS

A report submitted to IIMT, Greater Noida in the partial fulfillment of full time Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management.

Submitted To DR.D K GARG CHAIRMAN SIR IIMT, G.Noida

Submitted By NIRAJ KUMAR PGDBM ENR-15083 BATCH-15th

ISHAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY 2, KNOWLEDGE PARK, GREATER NOIDA

Website- www.ishanfamily.com E-mail- Ishan_coporate@yahoo.com

Sr. No.1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Origin

Particulars

Page No.
2 2 2 2-4 5-9 9-12 12 12 12-13 13-15.

Background of Promoter Founder of the Company History of the Business Product Planning & Exchange of Modern Business Geography R&D Innovation Problem Faced by the Company Competitors Present Stases of Company and Achievement

Verified by IT Lab

Comments

Date:-

ORIGIN Asian Paints Limited (the Company) is listed Bse (500820), Its producing paint since 1942. The Headquarter was established in Mumbai (India). Now Mr. P M Murty has MD & CEO. Its revenue in Indian rupees 6680.94 corer in US$282.62. The profit earn in 2009 was 1256.09corar and Employees are 4700. Asian Paints committed to good corporate governance and has consistently maintained its organizational culture as a remarkable confluence of high standards of professionalism, fast track growth, building shareholder equity with principles of fair play, ethics and corporate governance in spirit.

BACKGROUND OF PROMOTER . Four friends who were willing to take on the worlds biggest, most famous paint companies operating in India at that time set it up as a partnership firm. Its started in Kapadwanj in the Kheda district in the state of Gujarat as a collection of small plants. Over the course of 25 years Asian Paints has became a corporate force and India's leading paints company. Driven by its strong consumer-focus and innovative spirit, the company has been the market leader in paints since 1968. Four company founder are respectively Shri Champaklal H. Choksey, Shari Chimanlal N. Choksi, Shri Suryakant C. Dani and Shri Arvind R. Vakil get together to manufacture paint in a garage on Foras Road, Bombay.

FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY The founder of the company of Asian Paints Champaklal H. Choksey, Chimanlal N. Choksi, Suryakant C. Dani and Arvind R. Vakil these four person start get together to manufacture paint in a garage on Foras Road, Bombay. They name their company 'The Asian Oil & Paint Company', a name that they picked randomly from a telephone directory.

HISTORY OF THE BUSINESS

The company has come a long way since its small beginnings in 1942. Four friends who were willing to take on the worlds biggest, most famous paint companies operating in India at that time set it up as a partnership firm. Its started in Kapadwanj in the Kheda district in the state of Gujarat as a collection of small plants. Over the course of 25 years Asian Paints has became a corporate force and India's leading paints company. Driven by its strong consumer-focus and innovative spirit, the company has been the market leader in paints since 1968. Today it is double the size of any other paint company in India. Asian Paints manufactures a wide range of paints for Decorative and Industrial use.

Vertical integration has seen it diversify into products such as Phthalic Anhydride and Pentaerythritol, which are used in the paint manufacturing process. Asian Paints along with PPG Inc, USA, one of the largest automotive coatings manufacturer in the world has begun a 50:50 joint venture, Asian PPG Industries to service the increasing requirements of the Indian automotive coatings market. Another wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Paints Industrial Coatings Limited has been set up to cater to the powder coatings market which is one of the fastest growing segments in the industrial coatings market. This wholly owned subsidiary of Asian Paints has entered into a tie-up with Canada-based Protech Chemicals which is one of the top ten powder coatings companies in the world for technological know-how in the area of powder coatings. 1st February, 1942 Armed with little knowledge and great determination, Champaklal H. Choksey, Chimanlal N. Choksi, Suryakant C. Dani and Arvind R. Vakil get together to manufacture paint in a garage on Foras Road, Bombay. They name their company 'The Asian Oil & Paint Company', a name that they picked randomly from a telephone directory. 1945 Asian Paints touches a turnover of Rs. 3,50,000, with an innovative marketing strategy "to reach consumers in the remotest corners of the country with small packs." 1954 Asian Paints mascot, Gattu, the mischievous kid, is born. 1957 - 66 The family-owned company makes the transition to a professionally managed organization. British company Balmer Lawrie rejects the products of a giant British paint company in favor of Asian Paints. 1957 - 66 Asian Paints embarks on an ambitious grassroots marketing campaign, partnering with thousands of dealers in small towns all over India. 1967 Asian Paints emerges as India's leading paint company ahead of any international competition.

1997 Aug 2, 1997 - MUMBAI Aug 1 Asian Paints chairman Champaklal H Choksey died in Mumbai. He was 81 He is survived by his wife daughter and with the paint industry spanned more than 50 years with the starting of the Asian Oil and Paint Company India along with his business associates. 2001 Feb 2001 - Asian Paints is the only paint company in the world to receive this recognition. One of the country's leading business magazines "Business Today" in Feb 2001 ranked Asian Paints as the Ninth Best Employer. 2003 Apr 2003 - Asian Paints (India) Ltd is planning to turn around its loss making international units and expects the overseas business to contribute over 21 per cent of the consolidated revenue in fiscal 2003-04. The company would focus on turning around five of its loss. 2005 Jun 2005 - Asian paints limited with its three business units decorative, Industrial & International business is one of the largest paint company in India. It had a sell over 300 million liters of paint in 2005-06. Significantly the group has crossed the Rs.3000 corer. 2006 Mar 31, 2006 - Asian Paints said that the advanced refinish business of ICI India will be acquired as a going concern over the next few weeks. The business has about 60 employees and its sales revenue was about INR500 million for the financial year ended March 31, 2006. 2007 Mar 2007 - Asian PPG Industries is a 50:50 joint venture between Asian Paints and the USbased PPG Industries. The joint venture company acquired the advanced auto refinish business of ICI India for a consideration of Rs 52 corer in March 2007. 2010 Mar 4, 2010 - Wound up on 4th March, 2010 Subsidiary of Asian Paints (South Pacific) Limited. Tubmans Paints (Fiji) Limited. The Company ceased trading and has transferred its assets, liabilities and business to shareholder Asian Paints (South Pacific) Limited.

PRODUCT PLANNING & EXCHANGE OF MODERN In the decorative segment, it is interesting to see how Asian Paints have changed the buying process of the product like paints. Paints are usually considered to be a low involvement product. In earlier times, the decision of the brand was taken by the builder/contractor and the home owners does not involve much in the process may be the decision of color rest with the house owners. Asian Paints realized the need for brand building even during sixties. But at that point of time, the company had a wide range of brands/sub-brands. The focus of the company was on product innovation and service network and managing quality proposition. The brand focused on mass and rural market. Asian Paints had a mascot called Gattu who was created by the celebrated cartoonist R K Laskhman. These efforts made the brand a leader during the late sixties.

Then the company realized that although volume justified the leadership position, share of mind for the brand was very low. That was the result of the mass segmentation adopted by the brand. Rightly so because the industry was driven by channel driven promotions, building a brand at that time was" uncommon sense". During 1983, the company tried to reposition the brand as a premium brand. Asian Paints initiated the corporate campaign aimed to position the company as the number one player in the industry. The objective was to upgrade to a more margin premium product marketer .The corporate campaign " Spectrum of Excellence" was aimed to increase the Salience of the brand in a quiet market.

But this campaign failed to inspire any interest in the consumers and the company felt that the market is moving towards a commodity market where price is the most important differential. Asian Paints undertook a consumer research aimed at understanding the perception of consumers about the product category. The research revealed lot of interesting insights. Consumers felt that paints could change the mood of the space and it was a sign of festival and plenitude. It could make a gloomy place bright and pleasant. From this insight came the campaign of Asian Paints associating itself with festivals. Research also confirmed that customers tend to repaint their houses on the occasion of festivities. Thus born the campaign "Celebrate with Asian Paints". The campaigns were carefully crafted and there were different campaign for different regions. These campaigns effectively enhanced the brand equity of Asian Paints and established itself as a premium brand. More than that, these campaign ensured an emotional connect with a brand in a low involvement category. The brand also phased out many sub-brands and rest of the subbrands was brought under Asian Paint's umbrella brand.

During the late nineties the brand had to be reinvented. Because no longer festivities formed an important part in ones life. Since many brands went after festival seasons, the positioning platform has become cluttered. More over the consumer buying behavior has changed. The category was becoming less seasonal. People started associating more importance to home decor and interiors. The choice of color became a high involvement decision. From a low involvement category, paint was increasingly becoming a high involvement category. The brand also went in a brand overhaul. The logo was changed to a contemporary up market one designed by Enterprise IG based in Singapore. The logo/design was to convey self expression, sophistication and Technology. Thus came the birth of a wonderful positioning strategy created by O&M. The insight was that the brand is about people and homes and homes reflect the people living in it. Hence " Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai" translated to " Every Home has a story to tell". This campaign is a perfect example of a brand laddering up and connecting to a higher level in the mind of the customer. The campaigns reinforced the brand as a premium emotional brand. Along with the campaign Asian Paints also ran parallel ads for its sub-brands. Saif Ali Khan endorsed the premium brand Royale .For Apex Ultima, the campaign was highly localized and was different in different market. View Asian Paints add here : Pongal: Saif Add Taking a cue from the success of Ghar campaign , the brand took ownership of the COLOR. The insight is that each color has a story to tell. The latest campaign reflects on the color and uses the campaign " Har Rang Kuch Kehta hai" translated to "Every color has a story to tell". The brand is so serious about the color that it has tied up with IIT to explore new colors and conduct research on colors. Asian Paints is a classic branding story and the brand is still exploring and growing Cigma Events confirmed its top status in brand promotion when Asias third largest and Indias largest paint company. Asian Paints asked for our branding and promotional services. The confidence of this blue-chip company in our expertise provided us with the vigor and strength to once again prove that Cigma Events can successfully handle and execute large-scale promotions. The Asian Paints promotion campaign used visual merchandising, display management, promotional activities and direct customer contact programs to endorse Asian Paints Home paints, Industrial paints and Automotive paints. Company has more Product Planning and Exchange of Modern. According to customer needs and wants, because the Market trend has change. So company has doing Nish Marketing. Automotive Products Latest product for automotive applications. Decorative Paints:- Preview of our products under various product categories, on the basis of application surfaces. Exclusive information on some of our premium brands for interiors and exteriors.

Industrial Products:High-performance product range for industrial purpose.

Paint Selector Products:Helps you zero in on the paint that's perfect for your walls.

Ancillaries products:- Range of ancillaries like primers, fillers strainers, and a lot more. Introduced many innovative concept in the Indian paint industry like
Small packs Exterior segment Home Solutions (painting solution service) Colour Next (prediction of Colour Trends through in-depth research) Special Effects / Textured paints

Product Name: Asian Paints Decoprime Wall Primer WT

Description:-Asian Paints Deco-Prime Wall Primer (WT) can be used as primer for painting of water-based wall finishes such as distempers & plastic emulsion paints. Its special features are easy brushing, excellent covering, alkali resistance, quick drying & good sealing properties. It is specially fortified with fungicides.

Product Name: Asian Paints Decoprime Wall Primer ST

Description: Asian Paints Deco-Prime Wall Primer (ST) is suitable for use as primer for masonry topcoats like distempers, emulsions, luster & matt wall finishes. It helps in providing a suitable surface for application of subsequent coats of putty & finish paint. It set a fast, has good sealing properties, good resistance to wall alkalinity, moisture & fungus.

Product Name: Asian Paints Acrylic Wall Putty

Description: Asian Paints Acrylic Wall Putty is water based putty. It is one of the best product of its kind available in the market. It provides a very strong durable foundation & brings out the best performance from the finish paints, both in looks & durability.

Product Name: Asian Paints Wood Primer

Description: Asian Paints Wood Primer is specially formulated to protect wood. It has an excellent sealing & filling properties which protects wood from swelling due to absorption moisture. Wood Primer penetrates wood fiber & gives excellent adhesion to substrates & also serves as a sound base for application of undercoats & finishing coats. It also protects the finish coat from exudation of resinous matter oozing out from wood.

Product Name: Asian Paints Exterior Wall Primer

Description: Asian Paints Exterior Primer is water-based wall coating suitable for application on exteriors as an undercoat to exterior emulsions. It has a good opacity & whiteness, which helps improve the appearance of the emulsion top coat. Exterior Wall Primers does not chalk & can be applied on freshly plastered surfaces that are adequately cured. It does not require any water curing.

Product Name: Asian Paints Knifing Paste Filler (Exchange Mode)

Description: Asian Paints Knifing Paste Filler is used on metallic or wooden surfaces for filling of dents & other surface imperfections. It has a butter like consistency & is easy in application. It is supplied at ready to use consistency but can be thinned easily to any desired consistency by using recommended thinner. On air drying or staving, it dries hard. Cutting is easy & involves no strain.

Product Name: Asian Paints Wood Stains

Description: Asian Paints Wood Stains have been formulated specifically to impart color to wood, they offer4 uniform penetration along with a depth & clarity of tones that emphasizes the natural pattern & character of wood grain, they can be used on all kinds of veneers & MDF surfaces.

Product Name: Asian Paints Exterior Sealer

Description: Asian Paints Exterior Sealer is an acrylic copolymer-based surface conditioner for exterior surfaces. It is designed to penetrate into the exterior substrate & also improves adhesion of the Exterior Emulsion Paint topcoats.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Floor Colour

Description: Asian Paints Utsav Floor Color is a high quality oxide powder, which keeps your concentrate flooring looking attractive for years. It has high coloring strength &mixes easily with cement. It is manufactured using genuine Oxide imported from Persian Gulf. Its brilliance & gloss keeps increasing with time. Also, it is UV light resistant & does not fade when exposed to sunlight.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Acrylic Distemper

Description: Utsav Acrylic Distemper is a water-based, interior wall paint. It is a value-formoney brand that makes it possible for consumers to have beautiful walls at affordable rates. Being an acrylic finish, it offers a smooth and matt finish. The shades retain their brightness for a longer time. White can be tinted with Apcolite Universal Steiner to obtain customized shades.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Enamel

Description: Utsav Enamel is a solvent-based paint that gives a long lasting glossy finish, which keeps the surface looking as good as new. It forms a tough film that is resistant to stains and water, and provides a durable finish at economical prices. Recommended for interior surfaces, it can be applied on wooden surfaces (like doors, windows, furniture, cabinets), on metal surfaces like grills, furniture and on suitably prepared masonry wall surfaces.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Synthetic Distemper

Description: Asian Paints Utsav Synthetic Distemper is a water based finish which does not come off on hands or clothes like chunna. It imparts a durable matt finish, which lasts all year round. Utsav Distemper gives you a distemper finish at an economical price.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Floor Colour

Description: Asian Paints Utsav Floor Color is a high quality oxide powder, which keeps your concentrate flooring looking attractive for years. It has high colouring strengths & mixes easily with cement. It is manufactured using genuine Oxide imported from Persian Gulf. Its brilliance & gloss keeps increasing with time. Also, it is UV light resistant & does not fade when exposed to sunlight.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Metal Primer Red Oxide

Description: Asian Paints Utsav Metal Primer Red Oxide can be used as an undercoat for ferrous substrates. It has a good Anti-Settling properties & offers good opacity, coverage, flow & leveling.

Product Name: Asian Paints Utsav Primer (WT)

Description: Asian Paints Utsav Primer (Water Thinnable)is a water based wall primer that can be usedv in interior masonry surfa ces. It has good whiteness, good coverage & flow & leveling properties.

BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY Industrial Liquid Paints and Road Markings

Head Office Asian Paints Limited Asian Paints House 6A, Shantinagar, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400055 Tel: (022) 39818524 / 8534 Fax: (022) 39818805

Email: customercare@asianpaints.comName Designation Suresh Visvanathan

Email ID.

Chief Manager Sales & Marketing suresh.visvanathan@asianpaints.com

Umesh Shetty Senior Sales Manager Protective Coatings umesh.shetty@asianpaints.com. Jaideep Sen Suresh Nair Group Product Manager Industrial Coatings jaideep.sen@asianpaints.com

Senior Segment Manager Power & Infrastructure suresh.nair@asianpaints.com

Nasim Khan Sales Manager Road Markings & Floor Coatings nasim.khan@asianpaints.com Nitin Bhagwat Segment Manager - OEMs nitin.bhagwat@asianpaints.com, Imran Khan Segment Executive - Oil & Gas imran.khan@asianpaints.com,

Zonal Offices North

Zonal Manager B1 / E 19, Mohan Co-Op, Industrial Estate,2nd Floor, Main Mathura Road, Badarpur, New Delhi - 110 044 Tel: 011 30891363/30891378 Fax: 011 30891386 Email id: gupta.ankur@asianpaints.com South

Zonal Manager
TNF Estate, 1/103, Poonamalai High Road Vanagram, Chennai 600 095 Tel: 044 30671000 Fax: 044 30671010 Email id: nikunj.gupta@asianpaints.com West I (Maharashtra, Goa and Chattisgarh)

Zonal Manager
BL-7, Nandanvan Industrial Estate, F-Shed, Mulund (West) Mumbai - 400 080 Tel: 022 - 25913461-63, 25913540 Fax: 022 25913513 Email id: kulbhushan.guleria@asianpaints.com

West II (Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh)

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Zonal Manager
Baroda Mosaic and Marble Compound, Dharamsinh Desai Marg, Nr. Chhani Zakat Naka, Chhani Road, Vadodara - 390 002 Tel: 0265 - 6453231 / 454 Fax: 0265 - 2775702 Email id: sridhar.patoju@asianpaints.com

East
Zonal In-Charge "Arihant" Building, 1st Floor, 53A, Mirza Ghalib Street, Kolkata - 700 016 Tel: 033 - 39847132 / 39847100 Fax: 033 22272230 Email id: jogindera.singh@asianpaints.com

Powder Coatings
Head Office Asian Paints Industrial Coatings Limited Asian Paints House 6A, Shantinagar, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400055 Tel: (022) 39818501 / 8588 Fax: (022) 39818805 Email: sales@apicl.comDesignation Email ID

General Manager - Sales & Marketing pankaj.bhardwaj@apicl.com Product Manager sachin.kasar@apicl.com Zonal Offices
City Telephone Nos. New Delhi Tel: 011 30891376 Mumbai Tel: 022 - 25913461 / 63 Kolkata Tel: 033 - 23563672 / 73 Chennai Tel: 044 - 30671018 / 26

Phthalic Division Head Office

Chief Manager Commercial Asian Paints Limited

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Asian Paints House 6A, Shantinagar, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400055 Tel: (022) 39818501 / 8588 Fax: (022) 39818805 Email: mohan.venkatesh@asianpaints.com

R & D INNOVATION
Company has number of R & D program and number of Innovation in Product and upcoming product. Like 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Asian Paints Utsav Floor Color.ion Asian Paints Utsav Acrylic Distemper. Asian Paints Utsav Enamel. Asian Paints Utsav Synthetic Distemper. Asian Paints Utsav Metal Primer Red Oxide. Asian Paints Utsav Primer (WT)

PROBLEM FACED BY THE COMPANY

Company has only one problem for Home Solution. Its focus on that company providing Engineers and worker for the denting & panting but it not success in India, accept Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. So company faces Home Solution.

COMPETITORS Kansai Nerolac established in 1920. The Company was incorporated. On its incorporation, the Company. Acquired and took over as a going concern the business of A.T. Mirza, carried on under the name and style of American paint and Varnish Company. Berger Paints to the 18th century. In 1870, Louis Steinberger moved from Frankfurt to London to sell a Prussian blue color, which was made using his own formula. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger and by 1870 Berger was selling 19 different pigments, including black lead, sulphur, sealing wax and mustard. Akzo Nobel has a long history of mergers and divestments. Parts of the current company can be traced back to 17th century companies (1792). The milestone mergers and divestments are the formation of AKZO in 1969, the merger with Nobel Industries in 1994 forming Akzo Nobel, and the divestment of its pharmaceutical business and the merger with ICI in 2007/2008 resulting in current day AkzoNobe

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Shalimar Paints year event 1902 - The company was incorporated in India on 16th December, under the name Shalimar Paint Color & Varnish Co. Ltd., to take over the business, goodwill and assets of the paints, color and varnish manufacture in business of The Shalimar Works, Ltd., at Shalimar and Goabaria in Bengal. It manufactures and sells paints, color varnishes, enamels and synthetic resins. Jenson Nicholso year event 1922 - The Company was Incorporated on 2nd December, as a private limited company. The company's first paint factory is located at Naihati, West Bengal State. It was converted into a public limited company in 1953. The company also has a research and development laboratory.

PRESENT STASES OF COMPANY AND ACHIVEMENT

In decorative paints business, the company intends to secure growth by spreading its distribution network, installation of more colour world machines and innovative retailing initiatives. The company is also looking at a more consumer centric approach with focus on R&D to provide new or upgraded products, providing shopping ambience and a more effective complaint redressed mechanism. The companys move to make its entire range of decorative products free of lead and other heavy metals is a step in this direction. The demand in tier II and III towns is buoyant and likely to be a good growth driver for the company. Asian Paints also has an eye on capacity building both in India and overseas and is incurring capex towards expanding its manufacturing capacities. On the flip side, since the companys industrial and automotive paints segment had suffered a serious impact in FY09, the growth in this segment is going to be challenging. Asian Paints international business portfolio is under continuous review by the management, which expects West Asia and South Asia to drive growth. Asian paints having more expansion plan for future. Asian Paints plans capacity expansion Our Bureau New Delhi, March 22 Asian Paints Ltd plans to set up new production plants and expand the existing ones for augmenting its capacity. As part of the plans, it will double production at its Sriperumbudur facility in Tamil Nadu from the present 50,000 Kl to 1,00,000 KL in the next one year. The company has launched Colour Next 2007, its research-based annual trend forecasting initiative and predicting colours that would be prevalent this year. Bangalore March 22 AstraZeneca's newly commissioned process R&D laboratory in Bangalore will play a key role in the development of its new drug portfolio, in particular the tuberculosis drug coming out of India, according to its top officials.

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The PR&D lab built at $ 15 million was launched by the company CEO, Mr David Brennan on Wednesday; it is the fourth such for the company and the first outside Europe; two are in the UK and one in Sweden. It will grow from the current 40 to 75 scientists soon.

Dr Jan Lundberg, Executive Vice-President, Discovery Research, said, "This investment is not the end." Dr David Haywood, Global Vice-President, Global Process R&D, said the Bangalore group could later develop outsourcing capabilities for large-scale laboratory work in India. According to Dr Sudhir Nambiar, Director of the new lab, it will train pharma-biotech students in process safety. Overall target The Anglo-Swedish drug major has an overall target of developing over 20 candidate drugs this year. The four PR&D centres work in tandem and share their resources and work. The Bangalore centre - set up at nearly 25 per cent of the Western cost but of the same quality - has handled work related to oncology and anti-infective from other centres and it will move on to the tuberculosis drug candidate once it is arrived at, according to Dr Lundberg. The Indian research subsidiary, AstraZeneca India P Ltd, which includes the PR&D centre, is doing AstraZeneca's "largest drug-hunting mission" - to discover a novel, short-duration drug for tuberculosis. It expects to reach the potential drug stage by 2009. The process PR&D centre will have the capability to produce 3-5 kg of active drug ingredients.

March 22 2009. The Board of Directors of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has declared an interim dividend of Rs 7.50 (75 per cent) per equity share of Rs 10 face value to the shareholders of the company for the financial year ending March 31. Hyderabad March 22 Afcons Infrastructure Ltd has bagged two new project orders worth Rs 245 corer related to the Kochi port and execution of a portion of an offshore pipeline project near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. The Mumbai based company, part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is close to bagging a Delhi flyover project worth Rs 215 corer. The job is expected to be finalized shortly, according to Mr S. Paramasivan, Executive Director (Finance & Commercial) of the company.

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The company which logged Rs 670 corer in the first nine months of the current fiscal is executing an oil jetty project for Reliance Industries in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to be completed in the next few months. Reliance Group is the single biggest client with over 20 per cent of the total order book of Rs 3,030 corer as on September 2006 for the company. Afcons has achieved considerable progress in its Rs 512 corer special bridge across the river Chenab on the Katra-Laole section as part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramullah Rail Link project. The 1,315 meters length project for Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd is being implemented with South Korean Ultra Construction & Engg Ltd as joint venture partner. With strengths in the marine infrastructure, specialty bridges and road projects, Afcons is entering the nuclear, mining, oil and gas and hydro sectors in a big way in the near future, Mr Paramasivan told Business Line. The company recently tied up with Walter Mining of Australia to bid for projects in the mining sector in the domestic market. An MoU has also been recently signed. In nuclear sector, it has been shortlisted along with L&T, Gammon, HCC etc for prospective projects. On the proposed IPO of about Rs 250 crore, for which the company had filed the draft red herring prospectus, Mr Paramasivan said: "We are yet to get SEBI clearance; once we get it, we need to plan the issue." Shares of the company rose 1.29 per cent to close at Rs 754.95 on BSE. Urban poverty This refers to the report "Is poverty increasingly becoming an urban phenomenon". It is not surprising that the percentage of people living below the poverty line is higher in the urban than in the rural areas. In search of greener pastures (lucrative jobs, luxurious living, etc.), the village folk migrate to the cities and often end up in pitiable economic conditions, not finding the right kind of jobs that suit their dexterity and traditional knowledge. Moreover, inflationary pressures are higher in the urban areas and the number of people living below the poverty line is naturally greater. Hence, it is imperative that investment in economic and social infrastructure is enhanced in the rural areas to provide adequate job opportunities for the unemployed there, thereby avoiding the congestion and other social problems that arise in the urban areas because of the exodus of people from the rural areas. AND SOME AWARD LIKE Best Puja (Shrestho Pujo)years active (1985 - present) Discovery of the Year (Bochorer Bismoy)years active (1994 - present) Discovery of the Year (Bochorer Bismoy)years active (1994 - present) Best Artisan (Shrestho Protimashilpi)years active (2000 - present).

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