This story is from September 21, 2019

Destination development: IIM-Indore plays good Samaritan for Deoria

As part of an initiative to develop an entire district – the first-of-its-kind exercise undertaken by a B-school in the country – a three-member team from IIM-Indore on Friday reached Deoria to prepare roadmap for development of the district.
Destination development: IIM-Indore plays good Samaritan for Deoria
Exploring new markets
LUCKNOW: As part of an initiative to develop an entire district – the first-of-its-kind exercise undertaken by a B-school in the country – a three-member team from IIM-Indore on Friday reached Deoria to prepare roadmap for development of the district.
The team’s three-pronged strategy includes promotion, branding and exploring new markets for Deoria’s handicraft and ‘gud’ (jaggery).

Earlier this month, IIM-Indore inked an MoU with Deoria DM to hammer out the blueprint for development of the district.
Naveen Krishna Rai of IIM-Indore said, “As per the plan to develop Deoria as a model district, a team of three professors from strategy, management and social behaviour departments visited the district on Friday.”
In the first leg of the initiative, a two-day exhibition of indigenous handicraft items would be held in Deoria on September 24-25, he said.
“We will identify 20 top manufacturers after which a team will suggest strategy for improving their products and marketing it in places like Delhi and Kolkata and even export it. Analysts from online marketing companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Home Shoppe, E-bay etc will also attend the event and inform local manufacturers about issues pertaining to sale, purchase and packaging on e-commerce sites,” Rai said.

He said in the second part of the campaign, a separate team would head to Kataura village and meet the gram pradhan to address their basic necessities. “A detailed demographic data of the last five years has already been sought by the DM,” he said.
“In the final phase, promotion of jaggery will be done as Deoria falls in sugarcane belt. The team has sought a report from the district administration as to why 14 sugar-mills working in 2005 were shut in the district by 2019 and only one is working,” he said.
Rai added that multiple products of jaggery, like cubes and flavoured varieties, would be developed.
“Scientists working in this field will also be roped in for innovations. The commercial expectance of the product will be taken to a new level by developing new flavours, giving it an attractive packaging and exploring its market in the west,” he said.
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