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If Aravind's cataract surgery is a triumph of process, the prosthetic Jaipur Foot is a triumph of product. The $30 artificial limb was developed in the late 1960s by Ram Chandra, a temple sculptor from the north Indian city of Jaipur.

He observed that patients in his city had trouble using imported artificial limbs, which can't accommodate Indian postures like squatting. So he set out to improve things.

The Jaipur Foot is made from a rubberized material and more flexible than many standard prosthetic feet available in the U.S., which cost from about $250 to $1,500, depending on their range of motion. And the Jaipur Foot is suitable for long periods of immersion in water - essential for farmers who stand barefoot for hours in rice paddies. Its movement at the knee and ankle allows Indians to comfortably squat, sit cross-legged, and walk barefoot, as is often their custom. The prosthetic limb costs so little because it's made from cheap yet sturdy materials, and its labor-intensive assembly does not require the use of high-cost machinery.

Distributed by a charitable organization known by the acronym BMVSS (Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti), the Jaipur Foot is exported across the developing world, from Afghanistan to Rwanda. Few years ago, the BMVSS created a partnership with India's satellite space-research program, the Indian Space Research Organization to improve the limb and further reduce its cost.

Cavincare of Chennai was already into sachet shampoos was a big market success. For examples, Proctor & Gamble - in Maharashtra worked on experiential marketing where they distributed 1,00,000 Camay soap samples costing only Rs. 4.00 each; 1,00,000 sachets of Ariel costing Rs. 1.00 each and 50,000 sachets of Old Spice of Rs. 0.50 only. At the end of 45 days, 8.5 lakh households had been reached with a fair degree of success.

HLL-shakti is an exclusive example where HLL has joined hands together with the women "self-help groups" who have taken up distribution, not only earning profits but also educating, creating awareness related to health and hygiene in people. Under Project Shakti about 15,000 poor women are selling the company's products in 50,000 villages with a population of less than 2000 people each in 12 states, and account for about 15 per cent of the company's rural sales in those states.

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* Contributed by: -
Prof. M. Guruprasad is Senior Faculty for Economics, Finance and Research, with AICAR Business School Raigad / Mumbai. He has more than 15 years of experience in research and educating / training management students. He was research scholar with the University of Mumbai. Worked as Executive in the Marketing research industry. Also Conducted Workshops and Training programmes. He has published articles in various industry magazines, newspapers and has initiated many discussions on academics.