DuPont is working on a strategy to make India number five in the pecking order in terms of revenue contribution to the technology and chemicals giant.
From the present position – 10th in the pecking order – it is all set to become a $1-billion revenue company in India by 2012.
Explaining DuPont’s strategy, Ellen Kullman chair and CEO of the company, who was in India during the Obama visit, said she expects the next growth for the company to come from emerging markets and India will be a key destination for its research and development. “There is no other country where we have had to increase our numbers in the R&D centre within two years since its launch as we have in India.”
On the future course of DuPont, Kullman said she foresaw two new areas of growth for the company: “I think one area will be biotechnology, especially in material sciences, where we can do a lot. The other area is nanotechnology which has a variety of implications.”
Kullman said though its R&D wing has been set up in India and will be completing two years, it has already undertaken work and has applied for nine patents. She said the company expects this number to double within a year, as much pioneering work is being undertaken in the country.
For instance, research on rice is centred around India and transforming metal parts with plastics for the Railways is another area that can be replicated in other parts of the world. The company is also working on low-cost photovoltaics. It has also asked for regulatory clearances for a corn seed variety resistant to pests and insecticides.
