Essar Steel has introduced a pioneering initiative to reward loyal customers who are regular visitors to Essar Steel Hypermarts, the company’s chain of steel retail outlets.

In a strategy that is unique in the steel retailing sector, Essar Steel will issue a membership card, branded “24 Carat Bandhan”, to select customers, entitling them to privileges and benefits.

The membership card will carry a unique customer number, with 500 Bandhan points credited to the customer’s account as a start-up privilege. Every time the customer buys steel, he will earn points on the purchase. An SMS will be sent to the customer within 24 hours updating him on the points earned. The customer will also receive a monthly statement on accumulated Bandhan points that can be redeemed for attractive gifts.

“24 Carat Bandhan” members will also be eligible for need-based credit facility on their steel purchases through tie-ups with banks and financial institutions.

Essar Steel has set up India’s only retail chain for steel products under the brand name Essar Steel Hypermart. It has a network of over 80 outlets selling hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products in various sizes to small- and medium-scale enterprises across the country.

The outlets are conveniently located in the major industrial towns of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Kerala. With plans to unveil outlets across more states, the Hypermarts have a strong pan-India presence. Sales from the Hypermarts currently account for 15-20 percent of Essar Steel’s annual revenues.

About Essar Steel
Essar Steel, part of Essar Group, is a fully integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer—from iron ore to ready-to-market products. Essar Steel has a current capacity of 4.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Its products find wide acceptance in highly discerning consumer sectors, such as automotive, white goods, construction, engineering and shipbuilding. Essar Steel produces highly customised products catering to a variety of product segments and is India’s largest exporter of flat products to the highly demanding US and European markets, and to the growing markets of South East Asia and the Middle East. It has invested in downstream capabilities to evolve from being a product based company to becoming a value added service provider. It has a global network of retail steel outlets, called Steel Hypermarts, and offers services, like cutting, slitting and blanking of steel sheets, through specialised Steel Service Centres worldwide.

About Essar Group
Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balanced portfolio of assets straddling the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Telecommunications, Shipping Ports & Logistics, Construction and Mining & Minerals. Essar Group has a firm value of approximately USD 50 billion (INR 200,000 crore) and employs 38,000 people across offices in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

For more information, contact:
Sharad Goel, Group Head - Media Relations, Essar, India at: +91 22 6660 1858, goels@essar.com
B Ganesh Pai, General Manager, Essar, India at +91 98197 30225, gpai@essar.com
Parikshit Kaul, Dy. General Manager, Corporate Communications, Essar, New Delhi, at +91 98735 70816, pkaul@essar.com
William Clutterbuck, Maitland, United Kingdom at +44 20 7379 5151, wclutterbuck@maitland.co.uk