DuPont Opens Research & Development Center in India

DuPont Knowledge Center is First Integrated Knowledge Center Outside the United States

HYDERABAD, India.— DuPont opened the DuPont Knowledge Center (DKC) today, 17 months after breaking ground last summer. Located on 15 acres in the ICICI Knowledge Park in the city’s Genome Valley, the center will be a research hub for India and the Asia Pacific region in the areas of agricultural and industrial biotechnology as well as engineering design and will grow to serve a broad range of DuPont businesses.


The center will include a biotechnology center, materials research center and global engineering design center, making it the first integrated knowledge center outside the United States. DKC brings together basic research, applications development, engineering design, bioinformatics and patent services to serve the Asia Pacific region, a key growth market for the company. DuPont 2007 net sales in Asia Pacific were $5.18 billion. With 25 percent average annual growth rates, India is an emerging growth market for DuPont.


DKC research will use the DuPont integrated science approach of creating valuable products and technologies using unique combinations of biology, chemistry, materials science, engineering and other science disciplines to further develop the company’s application pipeline. DKC is home to more than 180 scientists today and is expected to accommodate more than 300 scientists and other employees by next year. At full capacity, about 600 scientists, engineers and other employees will work at the DKC.


“DuPont succeeds when we connect science and technology to the marketplace,” said DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Uma Chowdhry. “We know from experience that we accelerate revenue growth in a region when we augment our sales presence by strengthening local technical expertise. Our goal is to develop products to meet not only the needs of people in India but also the needs of customers around the world.”


In 2007 DuPont announced plans to invest more than $30 million to construct its first R&D center in India to focus on delivering new products and technologies across the company. Research is already under way for Pioneer Hi-Bred, DuPont Crop Protection and DuPont Applied BioSciences, including discovery research for the DuPont-BP biobutanol advanced biofuels program.


“I am very optimistic about the opportunities for us and India’s long-term growth potential,” said Balvinder S. Kalsi, president -- DuPont India. “The DuPont Knowledge Center is a critical component of our growth strategy and will enable us to increase our speed to market with products that come out of our R&D and innovations pipeline.


The DKC is the sixth major DuPont R&D facility outside the United States. DuPont has more than 50 R&D facilities throughout the world with 20 in the United States and more than 30 in 11 other nations. Other major DuPont R&D facilities are located in Wilmington, Del.; Shanghai, China; Utsunomiya, Japan; Hsinchu, Taiwan; Wuppertal, Germany and Meyrin, Switzerland. DuPont invests an average of $1.4 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. Today, DuPont has more than 5,000 scientists and engineers around the world.