The document provides an overview of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), an Indian conglomerate company. It discusses RIL's history, businesses, products, and financials. Specifically, it notes that RIL operates in petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, textiles, retail, and telecommunications. It is India's largest private sector company by revenue and market capitalization. RIL produces a wide range of petrochemical and polymer products including polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride.

1. 1. INTRODUCTION
The summer internship project, as a part of the course of Bachelor of Business Management of
second year students in Christ University is a great programme for the students to get an exposure
to the real corporate world and its working.
The students are exposed to real world working environment by working under company guides as
interns where a lot of learning takes place along with value addition to the organisation and the
student as well. One gets to learn how the production process takes place, how the management is
done at various levels and learn by getting involved in the working of the organisation.
In the due course of the internship a student gets to learn in the department as chosen for the
specialisation to be done in the final year. By working in the department desired, the student gets a
better understanding and can see if he/she fits into the particular field and where does the actual
interest of the student lies in.
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2. 2. OBJECTIVE OF STUDYING THE ORGANISATION
The core objective of studying Reliance Industries Ltd, as an intern was to get an exposure to the
real world marketing operations and other processes that follow in the corporate world. The
following were the various objectives :
• To get an understanding of the working of a conglomerate company
• To understand the marketing operations of an industrial market
• To get an exposure to the supply chain management operations
• To understand the various functions of the marketing department in particular
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3. 3. OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANISATION
3.1. BRIEF HISTORY
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) (BSE:500325,NSE:RELIANCE,LSE:RIGD) is an Indian
conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company operates
through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the
company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone (SEZ) development and
telecom/broadband business. RIL is the largest publicly traded company in India by market
capitalisation and is the second largest company in India by revenue behind Indian Oil. It is also
India's largest private sector company by revenue and profit. The company is ranked 134th on
Fortune Global 500 list in 2011.
In October 1997 the Delhi High Court heard a Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) petition
over the award of contracts to Enronand Reliance Industries to develop the Panna-Mukta oilfield,
and issued notices to the involved companies and government organisations. Prashant Bhushan
acted as advocate for CPIL. The petition claimed an inquiry was justified on the basis of testimony
that Reliance had bribed the the minister of petroleum, Satish Sharma, to get the award. According
to a report in Outlook India, at least Rs 4 crore was delivered to the minister in suitcases full of
cash.
In September 2008 Reliance Industries was the only Indian firm featured in the Forbes's list of
"world's 100 most respected companies". In October 2009 a team from the Central Bureau of
Investigation was looking into allegations that V. K. Sibal, the oil regulator, had received favours
from RIL for approving a major increase in the costs for the KG-D6 gas fields. In June 2011 the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) issued a draft report on production sharing contracts in the
Krishna Godavari (KG) basin. It concluded that the Petroleum Ministry had acted incorrectly in
letting Reliance claim the whole area. The CAG said "The undue benefit grant to the contractor
(RIL) is huge, but cannot be quantified". In 2010 RIL stood at 13th position in the Platts Top 250
Global Energy Company Rankings.
The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector
enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in
excess of US$ 58 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global
500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.
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4. Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance.
Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical
integration - in polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil
and gas exploration and production - to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value
chain.
The Group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and
marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles, retail,
infotel and special economic zones.
Reliance enjoys global leadership in its businesses, being the largest polyester yarn and fibre
producer in the world and among the top five to ten producers in the world in major petrochemical
products.
Major Group Companies are Reliance Industries Limited, including its subsidiaries and Reliance
Industrial Infrastructure Limited.
Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance as a textile company and led its evolution as a global leader in
the materials and energy value chain businesses.
Reliance Industry is the world's largest polyester producer and as a result one of the largest
producers of polyester waste in the world. In order to deal with this large amount of waste, they had
to create a way to recycle the waste. They operate the largest polyester recycling centre that uses the
polyester waste as a filling and stuffing. They developed an innovative recycling process resulting
in an award in 'Team Excellence'.
Reliance owns world's largest refinery in Jamnagar which is a "zero discharge" refinery. Effluent
treatment plants based on the best available technology processes the waste released and convert
waste in to usable product. Reliance has also planted more than 5 million trees around this refinery
in order to reduce the carbon foot print.
He is credited to have brought about the equity cult in India in the late seventies and is regarded as
an icon for enterprise in India. He epitomized the spirit 'dare to dream and learn to excel'.
The Reliance Group is a living testimony to his indomitable will, single-minded dedication and an
unrelenting commitment to his goals.
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5. Reliance has more than 3 million shareholders, making it one of the world's most widely held
stocks. Reliance Industries Ltd has continued to grow since its split in January 2006.
On 30 May 2011, Reliance Industry's stock slumped 4% as due to reports that the Central Bureau of
Investigation was probing a former upstream regulator for the company's alleged favouring of
private-sector energy companies. The leaked CAG’s draft report affected RIL’s shares, making the
stock descend by 10.5% by 23 June 2011.
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6. 3.2. NATURE OF THE ORGANISATION
Reliance Industries Ltd., is a conglomerate company. It is involved in various businesses and caters
to a number of industries at once. The Chairman & Managing Director of the company is Shri.
Mukesh D Ambani. The major businesses of Reliance Industries ltd are
• Exploration and Production – crude oil and natural gas
• Refining
• Petrochemicals – Polymers and Polyester and Fibre Intermediates
• Textiles
• Retail
• Special Economic Zones.
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7. RELIANCE PETROCHEMICALS :
Reliance's philosophy of 'Growth is Life' has truly manifested itself in value creation opportunities
for its myriad stakeholders, which include its valued customers.
The focus on Growth has helped us grow as one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The
2009-10 polymer production (Polypropylene, Polyethylene and Polyvinyl Chloride) is 4,091 kilo
tonnes.
This growth has been achieved with state-of-the-art world scale projects and setting global
benchmarks in product quality, standards and services.
Reliance's sites at Hazira, Vadodara, Gandhar in Gujarat and Nagothane in Maharashtra are
integrated with crackers. The Jamnagar site is integrated with the world class refinery, ensuring
feedstock security at all the sites.
At Reliance the constant endeavour is to provide products and services that meet global standards.
Based on the extensive interaction with the industry, they offer a wide range of grades for diverse
applications across packaging, agriculture, automotive, housing, healthcare, water and gas
transportation and consumer durables.
Superior technologies, strong focus on R&D, latest IT-enabled services to support supply chain
management and the end-to-end solutions offered across the value chain reinforce their commitment
to customer satisfaction.
There's more to Reliance Polymers than just delivering great products. There's an underlying
relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with associates and customers. There's a stringent pro-
active quality control procedure. There's a firm commitment on following Safety, Health &
Environment measures. There's a responsibility towards creating & ensuring a safe and clean
environment.
The ISO-9001-2000/ISO-14001 accreditation has not only ensured providing superior quality
products and services but also fetched several national/international awards beside global approvals
from multinational companies.
The Reliance Hazira QA / QC Laboratories are accredited by National Accreditation Board for
Testing & calibration Laboratories (NABL), Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India for
testing in accordance with ISO / IEC 17025 Standard. This lends credence to the international levels
of competence and quality our products offer to customers worldwide.
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8. Total Customer Satisfaction, is what we strive for at Reliance. And with Rishta - the 360* customer-
focused approach,Reliance ensures sustainable quality through automated systems, emphasis on
complaint resolution, quality circles and adoption of programs such as "Six Sigma".
At Reliance Polymers there is a commitment to provide Innovative products and services that bring
total satisfaction and considerable value to customers.
At Reliance, their philosophy is to 'be where the customer is'. Their customers are ensured of easy
reach of both their products and services round the clock. This is facilitated through over 150
marketing outlets in India alone, supported by a national network of Regional and Sales offices and
several overseas offices across the globe. The teams of skilled technical and development personnel
are available to provide assistance at every stage.
In order to provide both commercial as well as technical support to their customers, the SAP R3 and
Business Information Warehouse Systems are implemented across all Reliance Polymer plants and
office locations to ensure seamless integration of financial, material, sales and distribution
transactions. The latest IT-enabled services support the management of the polymer supply chain.
Thus, Reliance Polymers is within your instant reach 24x7, 365 days a year.
Currently Reliance Polymer grades are not only well accepted in Indian market but also exported to
more than 60 countries world-wide. Their Exports Business office in Mumbai, India, oversees these
operations supported by overseas stock points and offices in the UK, Turkey, UAE, Indonesia,
Vietnam and China.
Market development team continuously works with OEM, end-users, processors and machinery
manufacturers to promote new applications of Repol Polypropylene which not only improve quality
at optimum cost but also open up opportunity to produce light-weight products for resource
optimization of Mother Nature.
Their technical and development team organize seminars, conferences, Road shows in Rural and
urban India to bring awareness of the benefits of plastics and Repol. Polymer team works hand in
hand with new investors in the field of polymers by offering suitable projects. They are also closely
working with various Nodal agencies for product approval and accreditation.
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9. Automotive and Appliance: Repol PP grades offer excellent balance of impact and flexural
properties to maximise the benefit of light weight, high stiffness yet break resistant components for
automotive and appliance industries.
Packaging: Repol Polypropylene is an excellent choice for a variety of packaging applications in
the field of Bulk, Rigid and Flexible applications. Contact our development team to identify the
right Repol grade for the new applications in packaging you want to develop for Bulk Packaging,
Rigid Packaging & Flexible Packaging.
Geotextile: Repol PP is suitable for manufacturing both woven and non-woven Geotextiles. Repol
PP Geotextiles are used in infrastructure applications such as filter fabric for erosion control of
River embankment, Geotubes for sea erosion control, Subgrade reinforcement and as pavement
strengthening in Roads.
Nonwoven: Polypropylene Nonwovens has a range of applications from Agriculture to packaging.
Agrotextile applications with Repol benefit the farmers by way of Crop Cover, Fruit Cover, Leno
bags for protection against harsh climate, insects as well as healthy and hygienic packaging. It finds
extensive use in Medical applications like surgical masks gowns and many more.
Building & Construction :Repol is a good fit for plumbing Pipe. Our team also support developing
Chemical Pipes for Paper, Sugar and plastics processing industry.
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10. Board of Directors
Chairman and Managing Director : Mukesh D. Ambani
Executive Directors : Nikhil R. Meswani
Hital R. Meswani
P.M.S. Prasad
Pawan Kumar Kapil1
Non Executive Directors : Ramniklal H. Ambani
Mansingh L. Bhakta
Yogendra P. Trivedi
Dr. Dharam Vir Kapur
Mahesh P. Modi
Hardev Singh Kohli2
Prof. Ashok Misra
Prof. Dipak C. Jain
Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar
Company Secretary : Vinod M. Ambani
Solicitors & Advocates : Kanga & Co.
Auditors : Chaturvedi & Shah
Deloitte Haskins & Sells
Rajendra & Co.
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11. 3.3. BUSINESS VOLUME
Turnover : Rs. 2,58,651 crore ($ 58.0 billion)
PBDIT : Rs. 41,178 crore ($ 9.2 billion)
Cash Profit : Rs. 34,530 crore ($ 7.7 billion)
Net Profit : Rs. 20,286 crore ($ 4.5 billion)
Net Profit 10 year CAGR : 23%Turnover : Rs. 2,58,651 crore ($ 58.0 billion)
PBDIT : Rs. 41,178 crore ($ 9.2 billion)
Cash Profit : Rs. 34,530 crore ($ 7.7 billion)
Net Profit : Rs. 20,286 crore ($ 4.5 billion)
Net Profit 10 year CAGR : 23%
Total Assets : Rs. 2,84,719 crore ($ 63.8 billion)
Significant contribution to India's economic growth :
• 13.4 % of India's total exports
• 6.9 % of the Government of India's indirect tax revenues
• 4.8 % of the total market capitalisation in India
• Weightage of 11.9% in the BSE Sensex
• Weightage of 10.1% in the S&P CNX Nifty Index
Growing Importance across the globe :
• Largest refining capacity at any single location
• Largest producer of Polyester Fibre and Yarn
• 5th largest producer of Paraxylene (PX)
• 5th largest producer of Polypropylene (PP)
• 8th largest producer of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG)
Business Volume of the Polymer division of Bangalore Office :
Total Polymer sold – 2 lakh tonnes per annum
Polypropylene – 1,20,000 tonnes per annum
Polyethylene – 60,000 tonnes per annum
Polyvinyl Chloride – 20,000 tonnes per annum
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12. 3.4. PRODUCT LINE
Reliance Industries Ltd deals with several businesses and the range of major products and brands of
the company are listed as follows :
a) Exploration and production : Crude oil and Natural gas.
b) Refining :
• Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) – Reliance gas.
• Propylene
• Naptha
• Gasoline
• Jet/Aviation turbine fuel – Reliance aviation
• Superior kerosene oil
• High speed diesel
• Sulphur
• Petroleum coke
c) Petrochemicals :
Polymers :
• Polypropylene (PP) – Repol
• Polyethylene (HDPE, LLDPE, LDPE) – Relene
• Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer (EVA) – Relene EVA
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) – Reon
• Poly-Olefin (HDPE & PP) Pipes – Relpipe
• Poly Butadiene Rubber (PBR) – Cisamer
• Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) – Relab
Polyester :
• Staple fibre filament yarn, texturised yarn, twisted/dyed yarn – Recron
• Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – Relpet
d) Textiles :
• Suitings, shirtings, readymade garments – Vimal
• Ready to switch take away fabric in gift packs – Vimal Gifting
• Ready to swtich take away fabric – V2
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13. e) Retail :
• Organised retail – Reliance retail
• Food & Grocery speciality store – Reliance fresh
• Mini hypermarket – Reliance super
• Hypermarket – Reliance Mart
• Electronics speciality store – Reliance Digital
• Exclusive apple store – iStore
• Apparel speciality store – Reliance trends
• Health, wellness and pharma speciality store – Reliance wellness
• Footwear speciality store – Reliance Footprint
• Jewellery speciality store – Reliance jewels
• Books, music, toys and gift speciality store – Reliance Timeout
• Furniture, furnishing and homeware speciality store – Reliance living
• Automotive services & products speciality store – Reliance Autozone
• Iconic Italian lifestyle brand – Diesel
• Authentic outdoor footwear and apparel brand – Timberland
• Italian luxury men's clothing brand – Ermenegildo Zegna
• Outdoor sports lifestyle brand – Roxy
• Fashion forward footwear and accessories brand for women – Steve Madden
• The finest toys in the world – Hamley's
• Office needs, office supplies and stationary store – Office Depot
• Optical speciality store – Vision express
• Transportation fuels – Reliance petroleum retail
• Fleet management services – Reliance Trans-connect
• Highway hospitality services – A1 Plaza
• Vehicle care services – R-care
• Convinience shopping – Qwik Mart
• Foods – Refresh
• Auto LPG
• Petroleum retail – GAPCO
• Lubricants – Relstar
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14. Product flow chart :
14

15. 3.5 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW – POLYMER MARKET IN 2012
Indian Petrochemical industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. Low operating
capacities in Indian petrochemical concerns bring with it the opportunity for future facility
utilization. Polymer market is dependent on growth in related sectors. Low per capita consumption
of polymer offers opportunities for domestic manufacturers to meet the rising domestic demand for
polymers.
Indian Petrochemical industry is considered to be growing at a 1% CAGR. India is considered as
one of the fastest growing manufacturers of polymers. This has led to increased costs of imports
creating opportunities for domestic players to generate high revenues.
Drivers of this growth :
• Demand from packaging industry
• Growth in associated manufacturing sectors
• Increase in usage of polymer products in agriculture
Challenges :
• Depreciation of rupee
• Rise in crude oil prices
• Environmental degradation
• Low per capita consumption of polymers
Trends :
• Usage of polymers in the medical sector
• Shift towards gas based production units
• Improvised marketing offers for polymer buyers
• Growing investments
Indian polymer industry is extremely capable of exporting polymers as many petrochemical majors
still operate at low capacities. Per capita consumption of polymer in India is at 2 kg compared to
3kg in US and China with 4 kg. Major forms of polymers are polyethylene polypropylene,
polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. Polymer finds its usage in a variety of sectors like packaging,
agriculture and plastics. Increase of crude oil prices have affected the polymer industry in India
negatively.
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16. 3.6 PETROCHEMICALS SECTOR ANALYSIS
Petrochemicals, as the name suggests, are chemicals obtained from the cracking of petroleum
feedstock. Petrochemicals are used in many manufacturing fields. The industry is built on small
number of basic commodity chemicals, also known as building blocks such as ethylene, propylene,
butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylene. Ethylene, propylene and butadiene are commonly referred
to as olefins, while benzene, toluene and xylene are known as aromatics. Together, they form the
basis of all petrochemical products. The broad product segments of the industry include basic
petrochemicals, polymers, polyesters, fibre intermediaries and chemicals.
Petrochemicals production process consists of primarily two stages. In the first stage naphtha,
produced by refining crude oil or natural gas is used as a feedstock and is cracked. Cracking
(breaking of long chain of hydrocarbon molecule) produces olefins and aromatics. In stage two,
these building blocks are polymerized (made to undergo chemical processes) to produce
downstream petrochemical products (polymers, polyesters, fibre intermediaries and other industrial
chemicals.
The industry is oligopolistic in nature with four main players dominating the sector noticeably
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Indian petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL), Gas Authority of
India Ltd (GAIL) and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). RIL, along with IPCL, accounts for 70%
of the petrochemical capacity in the country. However, the downstream petrochemical sector,
especially polyester, is highly fragmented with more than 40 companies. This fragmented structure
adversely affects the health of the industry.
Petrochemical industry is a cyclical industry.Globally, the petrochemical industry is characterized
by sluggish demand and volatile feedstock prices. India's current per capita consumption of
polyester is 1.4 kg, whereas China's and global per capita consumption is five times and three times
higher respectively. Similarly, the 5 kg per capita consumption of polymers in India is one-fifths for
the entire world. India accounts for 3.1% of the total world polymer consumption of 200 mtpa.
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17. 1. Supply : Supply currently outstrips demand. In India, as refineries are expanding capacity
leading to increase in production of naphtha, we believe it's going to increase further.
2. Demand : Demand of the petrochemicals generate from the downstream industries, which in turn
are dependent on the state and growth of the economy. Indian economy is poised to grow 9.2% for
the next few years. Thus, the demands for the petrochemical products are bound to be on the higher
end.
3. Barriers to entry : The petrochemical industry is capital-intensive by nature. The minimum
economic size of an integrated plant is around 1 million tonnes per annum, which in turn calls for
huge investments.
4. Bargaining power of suppliers : Moderate to low, despite the surplus naphtha production in the
country, bargaining power of suppliers seems to be moderate. This is due to the fact that the
suppliers are concentrated. However, going forward, integration is a ‘mantra' for the oil refining
companies.
5. Bargaining power of customers : Moderate to low, the downstream user industry is fragmented,
which reduces their collective bargaining power. Import duties on the products have declined
significantly over the past and with additional capacities coming up in the Middle East the
bargaining power of the customers might improve to an extent.
6. Competition : Competition within the domestic market is limited, as there are only a handful of
players with world-class capacities. However, with reduction in duties, there is threat of imports
from Middle East and the Asia Pacific region, which is going to increase the competition. Also, the
refineries are getting integrated, which will reduce the industry concentration in terms of market
share and in turn fuel competition.
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18. Current scenario and prospects :
• Government has put in place a national policy on petrochemicals and has initiated steps to
create mega integrated complexes called petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals
investment regions (PCPIRs). These PCPIRs will be set up in a 2,000 sq km area with an
estimated investment of $280 bn. As 100% FDI is permissible in chemical industry, this
should provide a boost to the sector. It is expected that domestic petrochemical sector will
double its production capacity in next four five years.
• Currently, R&D expenses of the industry are about Rs 2.2 bn (1% of the overall industry's
turnover). With an approximate cost of Rs 4.4-6.6 bn, Government has provided for a policy
of generating R&D centres for modernisation of the petrochemical industry. With this
format, the government is aiming at a low-priced high-return involvement in the
petrochemical segment, via public-private-partnership (PPP), to market the development of
new applications of polymers and plastics, by establishing such centres of excellence
(CoEs).
• Operating rates are expected to bottom out in 2010. Demand in Asia, especially in India and
China is expected to remain high leading to high cotton prices and stable margins from
polyester products. This, along with project delays by Middle East could lead to the next
super cycle in coming years.
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19. 4.ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
4.1. MAIN OFFICES
Major Plant Locations :
• Dahej
P. O. Dahej,
Bharuch - 392 130
Gujarat, India
• Gadimoga
Tallarevu Mandal
East Godavari District
Gadimoga – 533 463
Andhra Pradesh, India
• Hazira
Village Mora, P.O. Bhatha
Surat-Hazira Road
Surat 394 510,
Gujarat, India
• Jamnagar
Village Meghpar / Padana,
Taluka Lalpur
Jamnagar 361 280
Gujarat, India
• Jamnagar SEZ Unit
Village Meghpar / Padana,
Taluka Lalpur
Jamnagar 361 280
Gujarat, India
• Nagothane
P. O. Petrochemicals
Township, Nagothane
Raigad - 402 125,
Maharashtra, India
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20. • Patalganga
B-4, Industrial Area,
P.O. Patalganga 410 220
Near Panvel, Dist. Raigad
Maharashtra, India
• Vadodara
P. O. Petrochemicals
Vadodara - 391 346,
Gujarat, India
Registered Office :
3rd Floor, Maker Chambers IV
222 Narimen Point, Mumbai – 400 021, India
Tel : +91 22 2278 5000
Fax : +91 22 2278 5111
email : investor_relations@ril.com
website : www.ril.com
Bangalore Regional Office :
62/2, 2nd Floor
Victoria Circle,
Richmond Road
Bangalore – 560025.
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21. 4.2 MARKETING OPERATIONS
MV PRASAD
(Regional Manager)
RAGHUNAND KRISHNAN SUBRATA SARKAR
(Product Head - PP) (Product Head - PE/PVC)
RAMAN JP
(Territory Manager)
SABU NINAN
(Territory Officer)
SHALINI KAMATH KP RAJESH
(Logistics Officer) (Logistics Officer)
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22. 5. STRUCTURE OF THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
5.1 PROFILE OF EMPLOYEES
• MV Prasad – Regional Manager
• Raghunand Krishnan – Product Head (Polypropylene)
• Subrata Sarkar – Product Head (Polyethylene/Polyvinyl Chloride)
• Raman JP – Territory Manager
• Sabu Ninan – Territory Officer
• Shalini Kamath – Logistics Officer
• KP Rajesh – Logistics Officer
5.2 MARKETING OPERATIONS
• The primary function of the marketing department is to enhance sales volume as the
Bangalore Office is primarily a sales office.
• There are two main aspects under sales volume – Organic Sales and Inorganic Sales.
• Organic sales is where the main focus of the department is whereas inorganic sales is a
secondary function of the marketing department.
• Enhancement of organic sales comprises of three parts to be taken care of – Sales
planning, Customer management and Supply chain management.
• Sales planning goes hand in hand along with customer management and supply chain
management.
• Customer management includes building up contacts with the customers to get various
information and new customers which in turn enhances the trade, and also meeting the
requirements of the customers to maintain a long term relationship between the customer
and the company.
• Supply chain management is the clerical part of maintaining organic sales volume. Some
of the functions under supply chain management includes – Coordinate with the Head
Office, Get required grades of polymer as per the plan and ensure customer gets the
product as per the planned quantity and as per his/her requirement.
• The secondary function of the marketing department is to take care of the inorganic sales
which mainly includes business development analysis to get new sales by developing
new applications and new horizons to the polymer industry.
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23. 6. FUNCTIONS OF THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
6.1 MARKETING STRATEGY :
• The marketing strategy of Reliance Petrochemicals is driven by a number of factors as it
is a conglomerate company and the process is channelised through various levels. In the
polypropylene sector, 80% of the market is held by raffia which mainly includes –
woven sacks, plastic woven fabric and Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC).
• The strategies adopted by the marketing department is different as polymer is an
industrial product and is different from the trending marketing strategies of consumer
goods or FMCG products.
• The different steps adopted by the marketing department primarily depend on the
ongoing international market trends in the polymer market.
• Second, it is also driven by the floating exchange rates between different countries.
• One of the main drivers of the marketing strategy is the demand supply gap. In this
demand supply cycle, the two major roles are played by the raw material producer (RIL)
and the customer who makes a productive usage of the raw material. The entire
production process is based on this demand-supply cycle and the disequilibrium between
the two is referred to as demand supply gap.
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24. 6.2 PRODUCTION PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT :
The production planning is done based on the demand supply trend in the market. The main concept
adopted is supply chain management. Supply Chain Management is the management of upstream
and downstream relationships between suppliers and customers to deliver the best value to the
customer at the least cost to the demand chain as a whole. Supply chain management software tools
bridge the gap between the customer relationship management and the demand chain management.
The organization’s supply chain processes are managed to deliver best value according to the
demand of the customers.
One of the factors that affects the production process is the seasonality in business. Some sectors
(not the end users) have a seasonality in business which in turn is in direct co relation with the raw
material production and demand. Thus, seasonality plays a vital role in the production process.
Product development and management is an aspect of the inorganic sales function of the
organisation. It mainly focuses on the development of newer applications of the existing products
and to use the raw material of polymer in newer environment friendly application to open up new
horizons. It deals with the planning of the efficient use of plastic as a product due to constant
opposition from government and other environmental organisations, though the per capita
consumption of plastic in India is 2kg as compared to larger numbers in developed countries like
China and USA. The development and management activities are the secondary functions of the
marketing department as it is part of the inorganic sales.
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25. 6.3 PRICING STRATEGY :
Pricing strategies in an industrial product market like a polymer market is comparatively difficult
than a consumer product market. The two pricing methods adopted by Reliance petrochemicals are
as follows :
• Benchmarking with international prices : In this method, the organisation tracks down
international prices of the same product in accordance with quality, grades etc and the prices
of the domestic product is benchmarked with international prices so that it maintains an
equilibrium of prices internationally especially in order to maintain good exports.
• Port-based pricing : This is an internationally accepted pricing concept adopted by many
other organisations like Reliance Industries Ltd. It mainly looks at the aspect of pricing
based on the location. The prices of the product are location oriented and the freight and
transportation charges of the raw material to the particular location affect the prices of the
product. It mainly looks at the locational proximity to the port and the pricing is done
accordingly.
• Imports : At Reliance Industries Ltd, at times the pricing is affected by the number of
imports so as to maintain a marginal level of profit in business. The export valuation is
maintained at a level higher than the import valuation level.
• Raw material pricing : The prices of the raw material play a vital role in the pricing of the
product at Reliance Industries Ltd.
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26. 6.4 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY :
The distribution of the product goes through various processes at Reliance petrochemicals. A brief
of the entire process is given below.
• The produced material is primarily available at two locations of Reliance petrochemicals –
depot and plant.
• Depot is something like a store, where a customer can buy a minimum of even one single
bag of material which is 25 kgs.
• To avail material from the store, the minimum order level is higher than that of 25 kgs.
• The customers register themselves under a company or a private firm/agent which is known
as the del creder agent (DCA) who is an intermediate between the customer and the
organisation.
• The customer needs to place the order to DCA in order to get his material.
• The DCA provides a security deposit amount with Reliance, and avails material within a
certain limit.
• Once a customer places an order to the DCA, the DCA will check his limit and accordingly
place an order to Reliance through the SAP technologies software and once the order is
placed by the DCA, it is moved to the logistics department.
• The logistics department, checks with the DCA limit and other required documents and
requirements and once it is verified the order is dispatched.
• A master file of the customer can be created with Reliance Industries once the documents
and required papers (Excise papers etc) are forwarded by the DCA and it is verified by the
department and thus a master file is created.
• The entire process of placing an order to dispatch of material takes place online through
SAP software and management information system.
(Note : This is not the exact procedure of the distribution of material. It is just a brief summary of
the total process for an understanding purpose. The actual procedure is a little more in depth to the
one given above.)
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27. 6.5 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY :
Since polymer is an industrial product and the customer of the products are mainly manufacturers or
converters and not the end users, there is not much of promotional activity taken up in this field. But
some incentive schemes are given at time for a clearance sale of stock acquired at the plant and
depot.
Another form of a promotional activity is Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which is created
to safeguard the interest of the supplier and customer in uncertain situations in the market and
business.
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28. 7. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
7.1 SUCCESS AND FAILURE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS :
In Karnataka region, Reliance polymers is the market leader in all three of its primary products –
polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. Reliance is undoubtedly the most successful
organisation in this sector. It is the biggest private firm to do business in such a huge volume in
India.
The various successful products of Reliance under polymer division are :
• Repol – Polypropylene
• Relene – Polyethylene
• Reon – Polyvinyl Chloride
7.2 MAJOR COMPETITORS IN THE MARKET
The major competitors in the Karnataka region are as follows :
• Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd – Polypropylene and Polyethylene
• Indian Oil Corporation – Polypropylene and Polyethylene
• GAIL India Ltd – Polyethylene
• Finolex Group – Polyvinyl Chloride
• Chemplast Sanmar Ltd – Polyvinyl Chloride
➢ Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) : Haldia Petrochemicals is the second largest
petrochemical industry in India with a total capacity equivalent to 7, 00,000 TPA of
ethylene. It was formed out of a joint venture between Government of West Bengal, The
Chatterjee Group, TATA Group and Indian Oil Corporation in 1994. The first commercial
production started in 2001. The factory complex is located in Haldia, in the Purba Medinipur
district of West Bengal, India.
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29. ➢ Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) : Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian
state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The company
is the world's 98th largest public corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list, and
the largest public corporation in India when ranked by revenue. IndianOil and its
subsidiaries account for a 47% share in the petroleum products market, 34% share in
refining capacity and 67% downstream sector pipelines capacity in India. The IndianOil
Group of Companies owns and operates 10 of India's 21 refineries with a combined refining
capacity of 65.7 million metric tons per year. The President of India owns 78.92% (1.9162
billion shares) in the company. In FY 2011 IOCL sold 64.1 million tons of petroleum
products and reported a PBT of 90.96 billion, and the Government of India earned an
excise duty of 257.899 billion and tax of 16,500 million. It is one of the five Maharatna
status companies of India, apart from Coal India Limited, NTPC Limited, Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation and Steel Authority of India Limited.
IndianOil operates the largest and the widest network of fuel stations in the country,
numbering about 19,463 (15,946 regular ROs & 3,517 Kissan Sewa Kendra). It has also
started Auto LPG Dispensing Stations (ALDS). It supplies Indane cooking gas to over 62.4
million households through a network of 5,456 Indian distributors. In addition, IndianOil's
Research and Development Center (R&D) at Faridabad supports, develops and provides the
necessary technology solutions to the operating divisions of the corporation and its
customers within the country and abroad.
➢ GAIL India Ltd : GAIL (India) Limited is the largest state-owned natural gas processing
and distribution company headquartered in New Delhi, India.It has six segments:
Transmission services of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Natural gas trading,
petrochemicals, LPG and Liquid hydrocarbons, GAILTEL and Others. The company was
previously known as Gas Authority of India Ltd. It is India's principal gas transmission and
marketing company. It was set up by the Government of India in August 1984 to create gas
sector infrastructure. GAIL commissioned the 2,800 km Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ)
pipeline in 1991. During 1991-93, three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants were
constructed and some regional pipelines acquired, enabling GAIL to begin its gas
transportation in various parts of India. GAIL began its city gas distribution in New Delhi in
1997 by setting up nine compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. In 1999, GAIL set up
northern India's only petrochemical plant at Pata.
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30. ➢ Finolex Group : Finolex Group is a private sector conglomerate based in Pune, India. The
Finolex Group comprises Finolex Cables Ltd., Finolex Industries Ltd., Finolex J-Power
Systems Ltd. and Finolex Plasson Industries Ltd. The early nineties saw the Finolex Group
expanding into new business domains to manufacture Optic Fibre Cables and Copper Rods.
Today the Group turnover exceeds Rs.30 Billion (about US $ 750 million). Finolex Cables
Ltd (FCL) and Finolex Industries Ltd (FIL) are the two group companies whose equity
shares are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Global
Depository Receipts of Finolex Cables Limited are also listed on the Luxembourg Stock
Exchange. Professionally managed, with continuous updating of technology and strict
quality controls, Finolex strives for maximum customer satisfaction. Over the years, it has
attained a significant position on the industrial map of India.
➢ Chemplast Sanmar Ltd - Chemplast Sanmar Limited is a chemical company based in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is part of Sanmar Group which has businesses in Chemicals,
Shipping, Engineering and Metals. It has a turnover of over Rs.45 billion and a presence in
some 25 businesses, with manufacturing units spread over numerous locations in India.
Chemplast Sanmar's manufacturing facilities are located at Mettur, Panruti, Cuddalore and
Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Shinoli in Maharashtra, and Karaikal in the Union Territory
ofPondicherry. It is a major manufacturer of PVC resins, chlorochemicals and piping
systems. The Cuddalore PVC project commissioned in September 2009 is the largest such
project to come up in Tamil Nadu. It's aggregate capacity of 235,000 tons makes it one of
the largest PVC players in India. Chemplast Sanmar Limited won two awards, at the 7th
National Award for Excellence in Water Management organized by the CII in Hyderabad in
December 2010. The flagship company of The Sanmar Group won the “Innovative Case
Study” and “Excellent Water Efficient Unit” awards for the successful case study of zero
liquid discharge at Mettur. Chemplast Sanmar, a pioneer in Zero Liquid Discharge has
implemented this process successfully in all its manufacturing plants. Chemplast has not
discharged a single drop of treated effluent since September 2009 in Mettur while in
Cuddalore and Karaikkal there has been no discharge since inception.
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31. 7.3 MARKET SHARE OF RELIANCE AND VARIOUS COMPETITORS
The break up of the market share of Reliance Industries Ltd compared to various competitors in the
Karnataka region in the polypropylene and polyethylene division are as follows :
a) Polypropylene :
• Reliance Industries Ltd – 81%
• Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd - 4%
• Indian Oil Corporation - 5 %
• Imports – 10%
b) Polyethylene :
• Reliance Industries Ltd – 34%
• Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd – 9%
• GAIL India Ltd – 20%
• Indian Oil Corporation – 17%
• Imports - 20%
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