Sabic, a Saudi Arabian company that manufactures fertilisers, polymers and raw materials used in polyester fibres, has opened a technology centre in Bangalore.

The Riyadh-headquartered company has invested $100 million (Rs 624 crore) in the centre and plans to double its headcount in the next few years. The Bangalore development centre currently has around 300 researchers, engineers and other staff. Sabic plans to invest $500 million over five years in India and its China centre, which it plans to open in December.

Chemicals biz

Addressing newspersons, Mohamed Al-Mady, the company’s Vice-Chairman and CEO, said that the centrewould carry out research in next-generation materials across sectors, including construction, clean energy, electrics and electronics, medical devices and transportation.

Sabic’s push into India is in line with its plans to become a global leader in the chemicals business by 2025, a vision outlined by Prince Saud bin Abdullah, its Chairman. The company plans to tap countries such as India to develop technology, applications and solutions to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated marketplace and also address sustainability related issues.

The Indian centre will mainly service Sabic’s global clientele, but officials said that they would also look at servicing Indian clientele out of the Bangalore centre.

Talent pool

Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Vice-President, South Asia & Australia, said that as more scientists and researchers are returning to India, the company has access to the right talent pool.

Sabic employs 40,000 people across 17 tech centres in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the US, the Netherlands and Spain.

>venkatesh.ganesh@thehindu.co.in

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