Nestle to set up Rs 230 cr R&D centre in India

NEW DELHI: Swiss FMCG firm Nestle on Wednesday said it will set up its first research and development centre in India, which will be operational by July 2012, at an investment of about Rs 230 crore.

The new R&D Centre at Manesar in Haryana will be the 30th centre for the company worldwide and it will be used for facilitating innovation in a wide variety of foods, including culinary, cereals beverages and dairy products.

"We have decided to strengthen our R&D organisation by building a new facility here in India...We are setting up a centre at Manesar, at an investment of 50 million Swiss Francs (about Rs 230 crore)," Head of Nestle R&D Centre, Worldwide, Klaus Zimmermann told reporters here.

The centre will be operational by July 2012 and this will bring the total number of Nestle R&D Centres to 30 worldwide, he added.

"This new centre will facilitate innovation in a wide variety of foods, including culinary, cereals beverages and dairy products," Zimmermann said.

He said the new centre will have a team of about 40 scientists and engineers initially.

Nestle, which sells popular products like Maggi noodles, Nescafe and KitKat chocolates, has been focusing on indigenisation of its products in India.