I believe that villages have unlimited potential and if the rate of development increases here, the nation is bound to develop” said Beni Prasad Verma, Hon’ble Minister of Steel, Govt. of India while addressing a gathering of all India Customers and Rural dealers of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited at “All India RINL Customers and Rural Dealers Meet” organised by RINL in Lucknow last month.

The Hon’ble Minister added that India’s rural market will be bigger than the markets in some of the developed countries in the next few years. He said that the role of dealers will be important in ensuring that steel reaches every corner of the country. Verma also inaugurated RINL’s ‘customer portal’ for direct e-sales and released ‘ customer charter’. He also presented awards to the best customers. He released a booklet on marketing and distributed dealership certificates to newly appointed dealers.

On this occasion, Hon’ble Steel Minister appreciated the customers and dealers for their role in making steel available to ‘aam aadmi’. While appreciating the efforts of RINL-VSP in increasing their network in rural marketing, Hon’ble Minister asked CMD, RINL to further strengthen the distribution/sale of steel in rural areas and set up service centres. The minister also made an announcement about coal based power plants in Jagdishpur and Gonda which will not only help in meeting power requirement of the state but also provide employment opportunities to youth in the state. In his welcome address, AP Choudhary, CMD, RINL-VSP said that the focus at RINL has been on maximising customer delight, and RINL’s endeavour has always been to exceed customer expectations by providing the best service possible. All our marketing strategies are evolved keeping the customer in mind, he added.

On the rural marketing front, under the guidance of our Hon’ble Minister, Choudhary said RINL launched a unique ‘Rural Dealership Scheme’ which is an inclusive scheme extending the engagement to the rural entrepreneurs. No security deposit is taken under this scheme and the rural dealers get a margin of around Rs 1,000 to 1,200 for every tonne of steel sold by them. It is noteworthy that RINL is playing a proactive role in meeting the demands of the rural markets. It has appointed 555 rural dealers in the country. The company plans to cross the one thousand dealers mark very soon. RINL has appointed 101 dealers in UP which are highest in the country, being a populace state with vast rural marketing opportunities.

Sri T K Chand, director (commercial) said that RINL feels what customer needs. RINL always comes forward with new customer facilities before they ask for it. This brings customer delight. “Online Customer Portal” is one such unique initiative he added. Chand said that this is first-of-its-kind in steel industry in India. Customers and consumers can directly book steel from anywhere through internet starting from one truck load to multiple loads. The portal is user-friendly and even customers with very little knowledge of e-booking can easily place their order, he added. It is planned to extend this facility to mobile phones also, and with this, the customer can book their requirement while on the move.

RINL is also opening up a new marketing branch at Allahabad shortly. RINL also plans to establish SPUs in Ambedkar Nagar and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh very soon. Another industry for manufacturing of Railway Coach Components getting explored for establishing for Indian Railways by RINL at Rae Bareli. RINL is also establishing rural stockyards and is setting up a stockyard in Varanasi.

RINL has sold about 21% steel products more in UP in 2011-12 compared to previous year. In domestic steel market, RINL is the leader in Bar and Rods and has nine percent of the market share in Long products. Under its CSR programme RINL has set up a Skill Development Centre in Gonda, where needy children are being imparted free of cost training. Similar training centres are being envisaged at other locations in Uttar Pradesh. Along with this RINL is also planning to set up an ITI in Gonda.