Under the project, IMT's students will undertake comprehensive research exercise for companies participating in the programme. The projects include:

SKU analysis for a major FMCG manufacturer; developing a rural distribution strategy and product testing for an FMCG company; developing a rural entry strategy and complete psychographic analysis of rural consumer for a multinational giant; identifying relevance of certain product attributes for a consumer durables company; and identifying areas of competitive advantage vis-a-vis competitors for formulating distribution strategy for a leading FMCG.

Says an IMT spokesperson, ``Our student managers will be divided into groups with each participating company being assigned one group. The group will be responsible for the entire project with O&M Rural and AC Nielsen providing assistance in research methodology.''

Following a screening of major haats around Ghaziabad and Meerut - haats are the principal trading and meeting hub for villagers - IMT has shortlisted seven haats based on the parameter of consumer base, kind of goods transacted, availability of branded goods, volume of transactions and number of villages covered from different population segments. ``We've also selected some haats in the vicinity of the main town area where the consumer base typically represents the middle income groups from the semi-urban demographic profile,'' says a spokesperson.

The shortlisted haats are: Muradnagar, Modinagar, Begum Bridge (Meerut), Rohta Road (Meerut), Muiddinpur, Dasna and Khaskhauda which are expected to ensure a minimum sample space from the entire spectrum of the rural demographic profile.

According to IMT, the first-ever research will be carried out using various market simulation techniques whereby efforts will be made to gain insight into the buying behaviour and effectiveness of promotional schemes to test acceptability of some new products that the companies are planning to launch in the rural markets.