Ashland to Produce Resins in India

Ashland Inc. plans to acquire property in a “chemical industrial zone” in Gujarat, India, where it will establish a manufacturing operation for resins. The purchase will close in March, the company indicates. Resins produced at the plant will be supplied to the composites and metalcasting industries. There is no projection of when manufacturing may begin. “The 25-plus acre site will allow us to accommodate our expansion efforts as we serve our customers in India and elsewhere in the world,” stated Ashland India Private Ltd. v.p. / managing director Mike Swartzlander, “We had the great pleasure of meeting and working with officials at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, and the Industrial Extension Bureau, to make this happen.” The purchase will mark Ashland’s first site in India for manufacturing. “The state of Gujarat, where our future plant will be located, occupies a very strategic location between New Delhi to the north and Mumbai to the south,” according to Swartzlander. AIPL, a subsidiary of Ashland Inc., is headquartered in Mumbai and administers the sales and marketing operations for Ashland’s divisions located in India. Ashland also has interests in two Indian joint ventures, Chembond Drewtreat Ltd., and Valvoline Cummins Ltd.