Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu -- Bayer MaterialScience plans to increase production of thermoplastic polyurethane in India by adding a second TPU production line.
The annual capacity of the Cuddalore site will increase to 6kT from its current capacity of 2.5kT. The installation is expected to be completed by mid-2015.
Marius Wirtz, head of TPU business at Bayer Materialscience, said: “As the only local TPU producer, BMS has been committed to the development of the Indian TPU market for over 18 years. The planned increase of our local capacity is an important milestone to continuously support our customer’s growth with custom-made TPUs in high quality and with short lead times.”
Ajay Durrani, md and senior country representative, Indian subcontinent at Bayer MaterialScience Pvt Ltd, added, “Bayer MaterialScience continues to see strong growth opportunities in India across all business units. There is considerable demand in the Indian market for TPUs which is driven by an increasing appetite for high-quality end products. With this, we are convinced that the Indian market has strong fundamentals to utilise the scale of investments in TPU.”
Bayer pioneered the development of TPU applications in India in a wide range of industry segments and applications such as automotive, textile, shoe, castor wheel, cable sheathing, pneumatic tubing, solution coatings and adhesives.
The Cuddalore site supplies TPU under Bayer’s tradename Desmopan to the Indian market as well as to customers in Europe. The company has recently received Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment which is supplemented by a permit from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).
