Global science products and services firm DuPont on Friday inaugurated its integrated DuPont Knowledge Centre (DKC) here.
The Rs 130-crore R&D facility in the ICICI Knowledge Park would house biotechnology, materials research, engineering design and bioinformatics laboratories. The centre would conduct R&D in agriculture and nutrition, coating and colour technologies, safety and protection, electronics and communications and applied biosciences.
DuPont India president and chief executive officer Balvinder Singh Kalsi said the company would focus on renewable energy and clean technologies for refinery processes. It would set up a photo voltaic laboratory at the new facility by 2010 to work on materials for increasing the efficiency of PV modules and making them affordable for large-scale use.
According to DKC director Homi C Bhedwar, 180 scientists are currently employed at the centre, The number will increase to 300 next year and eventually to 600.
DuPont also plans to set up a ballistic laboratory for testing bullet proof jackets and helmets. The safety and protection segment accounted for $5.6 billion (about Rs 26,880 crore) of the $29.4-billion (Rs 141,120 crore) global revenues last year.
The knowledge centre, the sixth major DuPont R&D centre outside the US, has begun research on hybrid rice and corn for its seeds subsidiary, Pioneer. The company will soon float DuPont Services Limited to handle various services in Hyderabad. However, the location is yet to finalised.