Pipal tree is to create a sustainable livelihood for poor youth and women with a focus on school dropouts from poor villages across India.

1. IIM-LUCKNOW•PIPALTREE
CASESTUDY

2. PIPALTREECASESTUDY
BackgroundInformation:
In India, construction is the largest employment generating industry after agriculture. It employs more than 50 million
workforce and is expected to grow to100 million workers in next 5 years. 90% of the people working in the industryare
unskilledandsemiskilled workers. Most ofthelargeconstruction companies donottakeworkers ontheirpayrollbutallot
worktocontractors,who inturnallotittosubcontractors.Eventuallymost oftheseworkersworkonpayrollofsuch petty
sub-contractorsandaredeprivedofthebenefitsofanorganisedjob.TherearenoemploymentbenefitslikeProvidentFund,
Insurance Coverage etc., nor is there a clear career progression for such workers. Even basics like on-time payment of
salary or on-site amenities like adequate accommodation and drinking water are usually absent. Adding to this is the
constructionsiteatmospherewherethereisperennialriskoflifeandlimbduetoalackofsafetystandards.
Duetotheseissues, constructionis amongtheleastpreferredindustriesfortheIndianyouth.Thisis evidentfromthefact
that even during a slowdown construction companies face a shortage of skilled labours while there is a large number of
joblessschooldropoutswantingjobswithGovernmentorITcompanies.Normallyschooldropoutsfromverypoorfamilies
with noalternatecareerprospects want towork inthis industry.Theworkers turnoveris also very high inthis industryat
around300%peryear.
However financiallythis industry is very rewarding.Ifaperson picks upaskill (such as mason, painter,tilingmasonetc.)
s/hecaneasilydoubleortriplehis/herincomewithintwoyears.A constructionworkerwhonormallygetsastartingsalary
ofINR 10,000 permonth(including freeaccommodation), can earnmorethanINR 25,000 -30,000 permonthwithintwo
years ifs/hepicks up anadditionalskill. Compared tothe uneducated youth working in otherindustries such as IT(entry
leveljobs),Healthcare,AutomotiveandRetailcanonlyhopetogetaroundINR10,000-15,000after2yearsofemployment.
Since construction companiesalways sufferfromashortage ofskilled manpower,once aperson picks upaskill s/hecan
never be unemployed. S/he can choose to work anywhere in India (even in a town close to his/her village) and expect a
handsome income. Even during periods of recession there is consistent labour shortage which is the leading cause of
projectdelaysinconstruction.
AboutPipalTreeVentures:
PipalTreeVentures was startedin2007 as asocial enterprise,anorganisation tomaximise social benefits whiletrying to
buildaself-sustainablemodel.Ourmissionis tocreateasustainablelivelihoodforpooryouthandwomenwithafocuson
schooldropoutsfrompoorvillagesacrossIndia.
We run 20 training schools in 9 states across India - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Telangana,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - and train around 7000 youth and women annually.Till date we have trained
morethan25000youthsandwomenintheconstructionfield.
HUL lime case study

3. Givensocialissues suchas untimelysalaries,noPFetc.andtheopportunitiesmentionedabove,wehavedecidedtofocus
onlyontheconstructionindustryandtodaywearethelargestprivateconstructionskillstrainingproviderwithasustainable
model.Weprovidetrainingtoschooldropoutsinalmostallskillsrelatedtotheconstructionindustryandprovidethemwith
jobs though our staffing company. This way we can provide them with an organised job and offer them all employment
benefits likePF,insurance, decentaccommodation,water,uniforms,timelypayments etc.We also providethemwithon-
the-job training to ensure career progression. Normally a youth who joins the construction site as an unskilled worker
quicklymovedtosemi-skilledworkerwithinoneyearandbecomessupervisorintwoyears.Besidesthis,ourstudentsalso
haveanoptionofbecomingcontractors(whoworkwithus)orbecomingatraineraftersuccessfullycompleting4yearson
thejob.
To facilitate this model, we work as a construction contractor with large construction companies. We take complete
building construction projects (villas/ small buildings), as well as complete finishing projects (which includes plumbing,
painting, tile masonry, electrical, water proofing etc.). We execute these projects using our well trained staff from our
trainingcenters.Whilewe payregularsalariestoourstudents,constructioncompaniespayus onlyfortheworkexecuted
andifitmeetstheirqualitystandards.Thismakesourmodelfinanciallychallengingaswealwayshavetoensurethatweput
ourmoneywhereourmouthis i.e.by continuouslyimprovingtheskills ofourworkerswiththehelpofon-the-jobtraining.
Our customers include most of the well-known construction companies in India such as Godrej,TataHousing, Shapoorji,
Simplex, L&Tetc.
Challenge/Opportunity:
Pipal Treehas been successfully executing construction projects with excellent quality using its workforce for the last 4
years andis growing atareasonable pace.Now we want toincrease ourgrowthrateas ourmodelhas stabilised andwe
wanttoacquiremoreclients.Ourfocusismainlyonfinishingprojects(i.e.plumbing,painting,tilemasonry,electrical,water
proofingetc.).
Ourobjectives are:
• Toattractmoreconstruction companies in category A andB (we want tostay away fromC and D categorybuilders).
Normally Category A construction companies have revenue of above INR 1000 crores, while Category B companies
have revenue in therangeofINR 100 to1000 crores. All companies belowINR 100 crores areconsideredas C andD
category,basedontheirrevenues
• We also want todemandprice ofA class sub-contractors (price premiumpaidforthequality),as we arealready
deliveringexcellentquality(butstillhavetocompetewithpettycontractorsorverysmallcontractorsonpricing)
Beingastartupandexecutionfocusorganisationwedonothavelargemarketingbudget.Sothechallengeistosuggestlow
costmarketingstrategiestoachievetheaboveobjectives.
ExpectedOutcome/ Deliverable:
• Strategytocreatepull factor(notpush factor),forcategoryA andB construction companies
• Strategytobuildanimage ofa quality contractor
• Achieve these objectives while keeping marketingbudget low
Recommended Methodology:
• Meet senior managementoflargeconstruction companies tounderstand theway contracting works andways to
influenceit(speciallyfinishingwork)
• Meetconstructionsitemanagerstounderstandtheprocess(astheyaremajorinfluencers)
• Dobackgroundstudyusinginternet/websurfing
PIPALTREECASESTUDY

4. PIPALTREECASESTUDY
Useful References for Facts andIndustry Insights:
Websites:
www.pipaltreeventures.com
www.homepaintingsolutions.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Pipaltreeventures/
https://www.facebook.com/homefinishingcontractor/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UlqQAlUGkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVW9mtWi-b8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8aB4Xc9Nvk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZhscUUT_I&feature=youtu.be
NSDCwebsite:
www.nsdcindia.org
Mentor Details:
Santosh Parulekar
Co-founder andCEO
Email:sparulekar@pipaltreeventures.com
Disclaimer: Thedata,views orany otherinformationprovidedhereinas partoftheCase Study havebeenprovidedby therespectiveBrandand
Company.HULanditspartnerCNBC-TV18donotprovidethisinformationandarenotresponsibleforthesame.