The Hindu Business Line : DuPont plans knowledge centre in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad Feb. 2 DuPont, the global science-based products and services company on Thursdayannounced plans to invest over Rs 100 crore to establish its research and development (R&D) centre in Hyderabad.

The DuPont Knowledge Center, the first R&D Centre of the Corporation in India is expected to accommodate more than 300 scientists and other employees.

It will be the sixth major DuPont R&D facility outside US, after Shanghai, China; Utsunomiya, Japan; Hsinchu, Taiwan; Wuppertal, Germany and Meyrin, Switzerland.

DuPont has appointed Dr Homi Bhedwar, as director for the India Knowledge Center. Prior to relocating to Hyderabad, Dr Bhedwar held R&D leadership positions in DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies' businesses at the company's headquarters in Wilmington, Del., US.

DuPont has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICICI Knowledge Park, Hyderabad, for a long-term lease that will allow DuPont to construct its own R&D facility on 15 acres of land in the park. The groundbreaking is slated for March and is expected to be fully operational in early 2008.

The DuPont Knowledge Center at Hyderabad will provide the needed research and development capabilities for DuPont to assist in business growth in India and other surrounding countries. Research at the site will focus on "integrated science" - the addition of biology to traditional strengths in chemistry and materials science - to develop the company's application pipeline in India and other emerging markets. The site will initially focus on molecular biology, bio-informatics and

polymer synthesis.

"The DuPont Knowledge Center in India will focus on discovery research as well as applications development in a variety of areas," said DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Dr Uma Chowdhry. "This location will allow us to engage some of the world's top scientific talent in bringing better innovation to both global and local DuPont customers faster."

DuPont invests an average of $ 1.3 billion annually on global research and development in a diverse range of technologies for many markets including agriculture, automotive, construction, electronics, chemicals and industrial materials. It has more than 4,400 scientists and engineers around the world.

Mr Balvinder Singh Kalsi, President, DuPont India said, "Our intent is to leverage Indian science and engineering talent for the benefit of DuPont customers and shareholders."

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