J. Subhash and G. Manjunath e-mail: j_subash@rediffmail.com

The Micro-concrete roofing technology has found a foot-hold in North India. In many parts of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh the technology has been integrated in conventional construction practice in rural and per-urban regions. The South of India, is a fairly new ground for this technology.

With Southern Karnataka as a nodal region, the technology dissemination process began in earnest only about three years ago. Today, about 10 units are working and producing tiles.

Although, there is a large sloping roof market in this region, the competition for MCR tiles is high. The primary competition is from the Fired clay Mangalore pattern roofing tiles followed by Asbestos Corrugated Cement (ACC) sheets and Galvanized Iron sheets or Zinc sheets as they are commonly called.

Fired Clay tiles are transported across 250 kms. and used mainly for residential purposes. ACC sheets and Zinc sheets are mainly used over large roofs for industrial sheds because of speed of construction and easy availability.

In order to actualize a niche market for MCR Technology in the region, the strategy has been to emphasize its technical, social and environmental benefits over availble options. Along with the "sustainability aspects of the technology, creation of a technical and marketing support base in the region has been a focussed strategy.

Technical supports for MCR technology in Southern Karnataka are being provided by the Center for Appropriate Technology, (CART_NIE) located in Mysore. CART provided technical guidance and training to entrepreneurs and also provided region specific inputs to technology development.

Market penetration strategy for MCR technology in Southern Karnataka has been based on the following considerations:

Quality assurance: Consistent product quality is essential for sustained market growth of any technology. With this view, all entrepreneurs were trained on details of production, which was followed up by routine visits to enterprises for maintaining of quality standards (SKAT Standards) of MCR Tile production. Consistent quality tiles started are now produced and sufficient stocks are maintained.

Demonstrating attractive examples of MCR roofs: When entrepreneurs’ efforts to sell the products through dealers and agents did not prove fruitful, it was felt that more examples of good roofs need to be created so as to generate awareness and interest amongst the people. To create these examples, concerned entrepreneurs set up personal selling techniques and offered incentives like free support services and colouring for good roofs etc.

Sales on credit: Sri Lakshmi Roofing Tiles, Mr. Channegowda, of Talkad, T.Narasipur, Mysore district initiated the supply of tiles for Government sponsored houses on a short term loan basis which resulted in many attractive demonstrations in the rural areas. This also provided an opportunity to train the local workers. Many carpenters, fabricators and tile layers were trained on job in this period.

Many examples, such as, residential buildings, brick factories, poultry farms, silkworm rearing units, filature units and community buildings were created both in urban and rural areas.

Support Materials: Support materials giving details on MCR Technology were developed and published. Some of these are:

Training: For the promotion of any new Technology sufficient skilled manpower is required. In this context, regular training is conducted in basics and advanced learning of MCR technology. On the job training is conducted through varied projects of entrepreneurs. All entrepreneurs are provided regular refresher training to keep abreast with latest technological development.

Customized technology : Responding to the needs of users and entrepreneurs an easy to lay solution for top ridge system was developed and introduced. This has helped in attracting more customers especially in rural areas.

Market Promotion: Supports for market promotion of the technology were provided to help the entrepreneurs to push the product in the market. MCR entrepreneurs were supported with good quality brochures, posters in English and Kannada, wall paintings at selected places and compliments to Architects and participation in local haats (village markets), architects and builders’ meets etc.,

As a result of focussed technology promotion activities, today there are 10 profit-making enterprises operational in the Southern Karnataka region. Many good examples of MCR roofs have been created both in urban and rural areas. All this is generating more inquiries and therefore more business. There is a clear indication that the MCR technology has found its place among many available roofing technologies as an efficient and affordable alternative for the Southern Karnataka region. q

Back to Contents