By IANS,
Chennai: US-based silicones manufacturer Momentive Performance Materials is planning to set up its own research and development (R&D) centre in Bangalore, a company official said Wednesday.
“We are evaluating plans to set up a R&D centre in Bangalore. We have a global R&D centre in Bangalore with 30 scientists. Though they are employees of General Electric they do dedicated work for us,” V.P. Nalian, managing director of Momentive’s Indian subsidiary, told IANS.
He said: “The 30 scientists will be absorbed in our R&D centre.”
The company’s products are used in a wide range of industries like automotive, telecom and personal care.
According to him, the company has invested $20 million in its Indian plant located at Oragadam near here.
The US parent, which experienced a 21 percent dip in turnover in 2009, is focussing on speciality products where the margins are better than commodity products.
“Some of the speciality product lines catering to sectors like personal care were not affected by the recession. We have decided to look at speciality products for growth,” Michael Modak, chief commercial officer of the company, told IANS here.
About sales trend, he said the first quarter of 2010 had been better than the last quarter of 2009.
Asia is the fastest growing market for the company followed by America and Europe.