Specialty chemicals maker Lanxess India Pvt Ltd, which relocated its manufacturing facility from Madurai (Tamil Nadu) to Jhagadia in Gujarat last year, on Tuesday said three of its production units have commenced production this month at the plant in which Rs 490 crore has been invested so far.
The three units comprise a semi-crystalline products unit that makes high-tech plastics used by the automotive industry; material protection products unit for biocides used in the construction industry, and a unit making additives and release agents used in the tire and rubber industry.
Heavy investment
The site already includes a facility for ion exchange resins, used in water purification, and a rubber chemicals plant serving the tire and rubber processing industries. Both started production in 2010.
“Lanxess is heavily investing in the Indian subcontinent and this commitment has already paid off. We surpassed our 2010 sales already in the first nine months of 2011,” said Mr Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman , at the inauguration ceremony. “By concentrating many of our assets in Jhagadia, we are creating a specialty chemicals hub catering to the booming local market and the Asia region – and there is potentially further room at the site for expansion.”
Jhagadia is Lanxess' second largest production site in India after its facility at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh. Lanxess, which opened its new head offices in Thane (Maharashtra), currently employs 860 people in India. It achieved sales of nearly Rs 1,200 crore in the first nine months of 2011, the company said in a release.