Global chemical group BASF to set up research centre in India

SINGAPORE: The international chemical group, BASF, is looking at a number of sites to set up a Global Research Centre in India as it shifts its R&D work to Asia, supporting its major expansion into the region.


"A decision has been made for setting up the centre in India," Raman Ramachandran, BASF's senior vice president for Crop Protection business in Asia pacific, said today.

A number of sites for the centre were being evaluated including Mumbai, he said.

The investment and time frame of setting up the centre were being considered and relevant approvals were being sought from the Indian authorities, he added.

For the longer-term, BASF would also invest in a production plant in India for making crop protection products, said Markus Heldt, BASF's president for Crop Protection based in Limburgerhof, Germany.

The Indian manufacturing facility would be similar to BASF's facility being built at Rudong in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The Chinese facility would be operational in 2014 with more than 100 employees producing crop protection solutions for markets in China and Southeast Asia, Ramachandran said.

In the meantime, field trials have started at BASF's global agro research station in Pune, which was initiated in 2012.

More regional demonstration farms were also planned in the key areas of the Asia Pacific region, said the BASF officials, stressing the group was making a major shift in R&D work to Asia, given the growing demand in the regional agri and farm markets.

India would be a major market and hub for BASF's agro-related business due to its size and the availability of wider pool of talent and chemists in the country, said Heldt.

BASF's Crop Protection division's R&D expenditure have grown annually by 7 per cent on average to Euro 430 million in 2012 from Euro 325 million in 2008.

"The company will continue to invest heavily in R&D projects in the future," said a BASF statement.

"Over the next few years, BASF also plans to spend on average Euro 300 million annually on additional production capacities globally for its portfolio of agricultural solutions," the company said.

"These investments mean that BASF can continue to support food availability in Asia Pacific and around the world more broadly," said Heldt.

But the BASF executives declined to share the specific investment number market wise, stressing that all investments were meant for global markets no matter where the facilities were located.