 "Jan Secher (left), president and CEO of Perstorp, with Maharashtra CM Devendra Phadnavis & other officials")
Swedish specialty chemicals firm Perstorp is planning to set up a manufacturing facility for pentaerythritol (penta) in Maharashtra. To evaluate the opportunity to invest in a new world scale production plant for penta in India, the company has signed an MoU with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
Pentaerythritol, a white crystalline polyhydric alcohol containing four primary hydroxyl groups, is used as building blocks in alkyd resins for coatings, radiation curing monomers, polyurethanes, rosin esters, synthetic lubricants and explosives. Perstorp currently manufactures producing penta in three different production plants in Germany, the US and Sweden.
The related market for coatings in India is growing fast in the country. Building a world scale production plant will be yet another important part of Perstorp’s ambitious plan to strengthen the position in the Asian market. In July 2015, Perstorp acquired the penta business from Koei Chemical Company Ltd, a Japanese chemicals producer.
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“The penta business is a corner stone for Perstorp and an integral part of the strategy to drive growth in the Asia Pacific region. It requires presence and determination in order to succeed. An investment in India would further build upon and strengthen our number one position in the global market,” said Jan Secher, president and CEO, Perstorp.
Ulrika Andersson, vice president of penta business unit, added, “Perstorp has for a longer period successfully been building its position in Asia. The ‘Make in India’ initiative gives Perstorp an arena to further evaluate opportunities within this exciting region. Ultimately our intention is to develop existing and new customer relationships to further support their success and growth.”
The Make in India initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives. The initiatives was set to simplify doing business and invest in India, this in order to turn the country into a manufacturing hub. Since then India has seen an increase in FDI of 48 percent on an annual rate and India is today enjoying the highest growth in the world closing 2015 at GDP more than 7.3 percent with a projection of 7.5 percent for 2016.
