District Administration-

East Champaran (Bihar)

Pariyojana Izzat

Submission by:

Utkarsh Kumar
MBA (IIM Kozhikode), B.Tech (IIT Guwahati)
 Current state Product accessibility & Consumer and buyer Recommended
assessment of project usage patterns Insights Business model

50,99,371 3968 km2 1293 24,18,162 45.12% 19,41,397

Total Total Total Female Female “Non-Working”

Population Area Villages Population Literacy levels Females

Data Source: District Census Handbook, Purba Champaran (2011)

(Billion
4 A’s for success of the project units)

Users, purchasers, and key influencers (e.g., mothers)

Awareness should make informed choices about product use

The entire value chain (especially the end retail

Acceptability stores should be socially & culturally acceptable)

Products are easy to obtain through an array of

Availability widely accessible outlets throughout the district

Prices meet the user’s willingness and ability to pay With 13% annual growth in 2017 volumes, India is
Affordability while incentivizing suppliers to remain in business one of the fastest growing sanitary napkin markets
in the world (Source: Euromonitor)

Pariyojana Izzat
 Current state Product accessibility & Consumer and buyer Recommended
assessment of project usage patterns Insights Business model

Current
Distribution
model

Limited Ability To Reduce The
Cost Of Product Inputs
Many of the raw materials used in
producing sanitary pads, including
Challenges the pulp board used as the
to the absorbent core and adhesives, are
Supply imported from countries with high
Chain labor cost (e.g., the US and
Scandinavia). As a result, the
manufacturers have limited ability
to reduce the cost of product input
High production Capex, low
transportation efficiency
Commercial manufacturing plants
can produce approximately 400-
600 million pads per year and cost
approximately US$ 10-15 million/yr
Shipping finished goods is much
more expensive than raw materials
due to the product’s low density.
The input is turned into fluff which
is much lower density
Concentration of production
facilities near urban catchments
Due to the high capital cost,
manufacturers tend to locate
production facilities near large
urban areas with high use of
commercial products, and in states
with higher per capita incomes
Finally, the private players in the
market hold virtual duopoly and
command high prices

Pariyojana Izzat
 Current state Product accessibility & Consumer and buyer Recommended
assessment of project usage patterns Insights Business model

Disparity between states

Out of the users of female sanitary
products, approximately, 41% exclusively
use homemade cloth products, 38%
exclusively use commercial products, less
than 1% reported using no products.

• The choice of products is highly

correlated with income.
• As wealth increases so does the
use of commercial product.

Commercial production centres are

concentrated in a few states
million)
(in million)

• There is a significant divide in use of

products between rural & urban areas. • Eight states account for 70% of cloth
• In urban areas, only 21% exclusively
users (exclusive as well as in combination
users (in

use homemade cloth products while

with commercial products)
No. of users

>50% in rural areas use them.

• Bihar (with >6.5 million) accounts for the
• Vast majority of exclusive cloth users
2nd highest number of cloth users in the
No.

(83% or 31 million) are in rural areas

country after Uttar Pradesh (15.6 million)

• Commercial product usage is much higher

Data Source: National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4) in states with higher per capita income

Pariyojana Izzat
 Current state Product accessibility &
assessment of project usage patterns
Demand for Commercial product
Price (INR)
The dashed line in the figure indicates the average price
for a baseline pad in the current market. The location
where the dashed line crosses the demand curves for
each group shows the proportion of that sub-group that
would purchase the baseline product at the current
market price. Low demand at current prices, especially
among those who have never used commercial
products, illustrates the importance of affordability as a
barrier to commercial product adoption
Consumer and buyer Recommended
Insights Business model
1. Price Sensitivity
• Women balance the issue of affordability with their
preference for the convenience and superior protection
provided by disposable products by mixing the use of
cloth and commercial pads.
• This mixed use of products was more common among
young women, who have more disposable income and
may spend more time outside of the household than
adolescent girls
2. Quality Sensitivity
• Reported quality of pads received through govt. schemes
is low, citing the lack of wings, thinness, and poor
absorbency and adhesiveness as reasons why the pads
were undesirable or not used.
• A number users give away free pads to their mothers or
sell them in markets to purchase higher-quality products.
• “When using cheap pads you have to manage all the time,
quality is low” - adolescent respondent in Bihar
Pariyojana Izzat
 Current state Product accessibility & Consumer and buyer Recommended
assessment of project usage patterns Insights Business model

Confidential

Pariyojana Izzat
Thank You!
Contact:

Utkarsh Kumar
MBA (IIM Kozhikode), B.Tech (IIT Guwahati)

Email: utkarshkumar0396@gmail.com

Pariyojana Izzat