BASF hopes to increase contribution from auto sector

MUMBAI: German chemical major BASF on Tuesday said it aims to double the contribution of Indian auto sector to around 17 per cent of its total turnover in the country.

"Currently, the auto sector contributes around 10-11 per cent of BASF's topline in India, which stood at Euro 560 million in the last year. The auto sector in India is growing by 15 per cent. We hope the sector contributes to around 17 per cent of the total turnover," BASF President (Asia Pacific) Wolfgang Hapke said here today, but did not reveal the timeframe for achieving the target.

BASF is in India for over 60 years now and caters to the auto industry with products like catalysts, engineering plastics and coatings among others.

"We are very bullish on the Indian market. We won't let it go," Hapke said, adding that that is particularly the reason why the company was investing "so much" in India to cater to the automotive market.

BASF would set up an engineering plastics compounding plant in Thane with a capacity of 9,000 tons per annum. The plant would be operational by the second half of 2009. A Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) would also come up in the same facility.

It is also expanding its electronic coating facility in Mangalore.