BASF India scouts for land in Chennai to set up facility

The Indian unit of the world's largest chemicals company BASF, BASF India Ltd, is looking to set up a greenfield facility in Chennai by 2015 to address the growing demand for emission control catalysts for the automotive sector. The decision comes against the backdrop of more cities coming under the Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) emission control norms by 2015, according to a company executive.

Anticipating a growth in the number of vehicles needing to adhere to the new norms, the company plans to ramp up capacity with the capabilities to address the trucks market, which so far has not been under the norm. The company is on the lookout for land in the state for setting up the facility.

Speaking about the company's expansion strategy, Prasad Chandran, chairman and managing director, BASF India Ltd, said, "We equip ourselves with the latest technologies and capabilities, to be ready for the future requirements. We would invest in projects as per the requirements."

B Vaidyanathan, managing director, BASF Catalysts India Pvt Ltd, said, the market for emission control catalysts it was addressing now was that for cars and two-wheelers. With more cities coming under the radar of the BS IV norms, the company expects more trucks to be brought under the emission control measures.

The proposed facility would also have a testing facility which is part of a master plan in the long-term to test products developed in original vehicles and analyse their performance.

Automotives like trucks do not require catalysts under the BS III norms prevailing across a large part of the country, at present. The greenfield facility is envisaged to be ready before April, 2015, when the BS IV norms become mandatory. However, the officials said details including investment had not been finalised.

BASF Catalysts India Pvt Ltd, a part of BASF Ltd, has a facility at Maraimalai Nagar, in Chennai to cater to the emission control catalyst requirements of cars and two wheelers. It had almost doubled capacity in 2009.

The existing facility had also gone through an expansion to cater to the needs of two-wheeler markets.

The company recently announced an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore for a chemical production site at the Dahej Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), in Gujarat. The site would be an integrated hub for polyurethane manufacturing and will also house production facilities for care chemicals and polymer dispersions for coatings and paper.