Abstract

This case is about the development of Tata Swach, a water purifier introduced by the Tata Group of Companies in 2009. Tata decided to develop Swach after it realized the need for clean water in the rural areas of India. Swach was developed keeping in mind the rural market and was introduced as the world’s cheapest purifier. It was targeted at first time users in rural India but became a huge success in the Indian urban market too. The case also discusses the various CSR activities followed by Tata to create awareness about the importance of safe drinking water. The case highlights the integrated effort of the Tata Group to make Tata Swach a commercial product and a part of CSR initiatives.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the need for new products to address issues like pollution / contamination of water
• Understand Developing new low cost products and for the poor
• Illustrate how products that are made for the poor can be adapted for the mass market
• Explore how CSR activities can be embedded in the products / activities of a company

Keywords

Tata, Tata Swach, Water Purifier, CSR,Rural Consumers, Rural Marketing, India,Safe drinking water, Government, Indian economy, FDI reforms, Religious Tourism, Environment Conservation, Poverty Alleviation, Leadership