US-based specialty chemical company Lubrizol Corporation announced its plans to invest over $150 million across several projects in its portfolio in India. This will include breaking ground on India’s largest CPVC resin plant in Vilayat, Gujarat, doubling capacity at its site in Dahej, Gujarat, opening a grease lab in Navi Mumbai and enabling significant in-country job growth and innovation, it said in a statement.
While maintaining that India is among the fastest growing global economies with a favourable climate for business investment, Rebecca Liebert, President and CEO, Lubrizol, said, “We are building on 50 years of success in India by adding new manufacturing, lab and R&D sites, supporting in-country innovation and adding jobs that capitalize on the great expanding workforce and business conditions in India, allowing us to serve needs not only in India but in surrounding countries.”
Lubrizol’s India business dates back to 1996 when the company initiated in-region manufacturing for chemical additives supporting transportation and industrial markets. It has, since then, steadily grown its employee base in India with roles supporting both regional and global needs. Lubrizol expects to enable 4,000 direct and indirect jobs through its new investment projects, it said.
Here are the details of the company’s projects:
Lubrizol and Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries Limited will enable world’s largest CPVC resin production with the first phase of a 100,000 metric-ton CPVC resin plant at Grasim’s site in Vilayat later this year. “The CPVC resin produced at Vilayat will enable products sold under Lubrizol’s FlowGuard® Plus, Corzan® and BlazeMaster® brands,” it said.
Lubrizol will double its existing CPVC compound capacity at Dahej, Gujarat, from existing 70,000MT to 140,000MT and plans to set up a local R&D centre, which will be its second global R&D centre after North America. “This capacity will also cater to neighboring high-growth markets like Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia,” it said.
The company also stated that it is committed to supplying alternative high-performance, cost-effective industrial grease-thickening solutions to grease manufacturers around the world. Earlier this year, it had announced the opening of a new grease lab in Navi Mumbai which would support the testing and development of calcium sulfonate greases with strong potential in the industrial grease market. Lubrizol has introduced more than 35 new blends for transportation and industrial applications localized in India since 2020, adding a new storage facility and filtration capabilities at its production site in Turbhe.
Lubrizol will continue to innovate sustainable solutions unlocking in-region opportunities for its partners in the beauty and home care industries. “The Lubrizol Home Care team established a Center of Excellence for laundry bars in Mumbai, part of which helped a global home care leader meet its sustainability goals while streamlining processes, earning Lubrizol a sustainability award from the customer earlier this year,” it stated.
Further, in addition to these projects, Lubrizol plans to continue to invest in Centers of Excellence capabilities in the years ahead to capitalize on the growth opportunity within the region.