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.
“A decision has been made for setting up the centre in India,” Raman Ramachandran, BASF Senior Vice-President for Crop Protection Business in Asia-pacific, today said.
A number of sites for the centre were being evaluated including Mumbai, he said.
The investment and time-frame for setting up the centre were being considered and relevant approvals were being sought from the Indian authorities, he added.
Crop protection products
BASF would also invest at a production plant in India for making crop protection products, Markus Heldt, BASF President for Crop Protection based in Limburgerhof, Germany, said.
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.
Field trials
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, BASF officials said, adding that the group was making a major shift in its 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, Heldt said.
BASF’s Crop Protection division’s R&D expenditure has grown annually by 7 per cent €430 million in 2012 from €325 million in 2008.