Rohm And Haas Plans Two Units

The $4 billion Rohm and Haas Company, among the world's leading firms in the specialty chemicals segment, has decided to target a Rs 200 crore turnover in India over the next four years by setting up two manufacturing bases in the country.

The company, which is scouting for two sites at a port-side location in the Gujarat-Maharashtra belt, plans to manufacture crop protection chemicals as well as customised water-based emulsion polymers and resins for the paints and coating industries in these two plants.

The crop protection unit will manufacture dithane M-45, one of the most widely used fungicides. This plant is slated to go on stream within the next two-to-three years and will employ state-of-the-art technology.

 

The project is being set up by the multinational's 100 per cent Indian subsidiary, Rohm and Haas (India), with an equity investment of about Rs 70 crore. Rohm and Haas has been distributing its crop protection products, biocides and ion exchange products in India through various distributors including Indofil Chemicals. However, after entering into a distributorship alliance with Bayer India, the subsidiary of the German chemicals major, Indofil Chemicals will no longer be the distributor for the US multinational. Bayer India will also distribute Rohm and Haas' four other products - Systhane fungicide, Kelthane miticide, Karathane fungicide and Goal herbicide earlier distributed through Indofil.

This will give Bayer India the entire distribution rights for the entire Rohm and Haas range of crop protection productions. Rohm and Haas also distributes its biocides through Priya International Ltd.

Meanwhile, in technical collaboration with Pidilite Industries, the Philadelphia-based company has set up a leather technology laboratory in Chennai targeted at the tanneries.