US-based West Pharmaceuticals Services (WPS), engaged in production of packaging and delivery systems for sterile drug manufacturing, on Wednesday, launched its $15 million greenfield facility at Sri City, near Chennai.
The setting up of new unit comes on the back of serving its customers in India who have made India as manufacturing and export hub to serve various markets. The facility, 4th plant of West in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, will produce seals used in primary packaging of injectable medicines. “This will be a 100 per cent export-oriented unit initially,” said Warwick Bedwell, President, Asia Pacific, WPS, after the inauguration of the unit.
He said Indian operations would graduate into a strong manufacturing hub for the company in the APAC region. While financial benefits were one of the reasons for putting up the facility in India, the company seeks to cut costs and lead times by being closer to the customers. The production capacity of the unit, which will employ about 45 people, is expected to be scaled up to 1.6 billion components by 2018.
The $1.4 billion WPS has also chalked out plans to inject more investments into the Indian operations in the near future to add production of elastomer components and others.
