BASF India Ltd inaugurated its large- scale chemical production complex at Dahej in Gujarat with a project cost of Rs 1,000 crore.
The chemical complex represents BASF's single largest investment in India.
The site was jointly inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and BASF SE's Member of the Board of Executive Directors Michael Heinz yesterday, a statement said.
The site includes an integrated hub for polyurethane manufacturing and production facilities for care chemicals and polymer dispersions. The care chemicals facility at the Dahej site hosts the first BASF sulfation plant in India, which will cater to customers in the fast-moving consumer goods sector.
"As part of our investment plans of more than 10 billion euros in Asia Pacific between 2013 and 2020, we want to strengthen our production platform in India. With our new Dahej site, we are enhancing our position as supplier with local production and can even better 'create chemistry' with our customers. With our advanced technologies and commitment of our team in India, we will both contribute to and benefit from India's huge market potential," Heinz said.
"With this production hub, including the first MDI splitter in South Asia, we are well positioned to increase our long-term competitiveness significantly in this key market. We will serve our customers in the Asia Pacific region even better through stable product supply in terms of both quality and volume," BASF Companies in India Head Raman Ramachandran said.
The polymer dispersions plant will expand BASF's production footprint in dispersions business, complementing the Mangalore facility. It will serve paper and board, architectural coatings, construction, adhesives, and fibre bonding customers, located in northern and western India.
The integrated polyurethane manufacturing facility will host a MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) splitter for processing crude MDI, a core component in the manufacture of versatile polyurethane products.
They are used extensively for cold as well as heat insulation applications and are the preferred material for improving safety in transportation, and enhancing energy efficiency and comfort at home.
The integrated hub will support the demand of TPU (Thermoplastic microcellular polyurethane components) and industries in the appliances, footwear, automotive, construction. The site currently employs 200 people directly and 300 people indirectly.
BASF in India has 2,254 employees at eight production sites & sales offices and two R&D centres. In 2013, BASF registered sales of 1.02 billion euro to customers in India.
