The Hindu : Business : DuPont centre to function from April

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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DuPont centre to function from April

Special Correspondent

Will be fully functional from June 2008
Plans to double the number of employees

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

RESEARCH MAIN STAY: Thomas M. Connelly (right), Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Vice President, Du Pont, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Balvinder Singh Kalsi, CEO, DuPont India looks on.

HYDERABAD: The biotech centre at the DuPont Knowledge Centre (DKC), which is being developed at a cost of Rs. 150 crore (excluding equipment) will become operational by April. The DKC will be fully functional from June.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) of the $30-billion science company, Thomas M. Connelly, said the Hyderabad-based research and development centre was the first knowledge centre of the company.

The company had six R&D centres across the globe.

DuPont India President and CEO Balvinder Singh Kalsi said the DKC, which would come up initially with 300 scientists/engineers, would double the number of researchers in about two years. Besides, the company proposed to double the number of employees across the country from the present 800.

The biotech centre would have R&D for crop science and industrial biotechnology. This would be the first centre in the world to have patent analysts working with R&D staff. The material research centre and the engineering centre would also come on board by June, said Dr. Connelly. The technical spend of the company was $1.7 billion, out of which $1.4 billion was on R&D.

The company launched more than 3,000 new products or product applications in the last three years. The company commercialised over 1,200 new products and product applications in 2007.

Mr. Kalsi said the company was growing at a rate of 25 per cent in India for the last 25 years and recorded sales of $439 million (about Rs. 1,800 crore).

The largest business platforms were agriculture and nutrition segment, followed by performance materials, coatings and colour technologies, safety and protection, electronics and communication technologies.

The DKC, located at the ICICI Knowledge Park, would house research programmes for several businesses such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International (seed development arm of the company in Hyderabad), applied biosciences, chemical solutions enterprise, and photovoltaic solutions.

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