Dr. Deepak Parikh, Region President - India, Clariant, said, "We are happy to announce our plans to invest in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in India. This new manufacturing facility is in alignment with our overall growth strategy in the country.

The new facility will enable us to enhance our medical specialties business and offer end-to-end solutions to our existing as well as potential customers. Clariant in India is accelerating change and continues to fulfil our commitments to all our stakeholders, as the Indian market stays at the core of Clariant's global focus."

The new plant will primarily serve globally active generic and branded pharmaceutical companies operating in India, as well as the domestic Indian pharmaceutical market. According to Markets and Markets, a major global market-research firm, India's pharmaceutical packaging market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2 percent from 2015 to 2020.

India Ratings & Research, another research company with six offices across India, recently reported that Indian drug makers accounted for 40 percent of U.S. generic drug imports. It forecasts a 20 percent CAGR for the overall pharmaceutical market through 2020.

The new Healthcare Packaging plant in Cuddalore—together with its plant in Changshu, China and the recent acquisition of healthcare packaging specialist VitaPac, located in Dongguan, China—positions Clariant to play a major role in the expanding healthcare sector across Asia.

Creating another base for desiccant canister and packet production also supports Clariant's rigorous business-continuity goals. "More and more global pharmaceutical companies are instituting business-continuity plans, or BCP, to deal with possible market disruptions, both natural and man-made," explains Matthias Brommer, Vice President and Head of Clariant Healthcare Packaging. "This new plant will support our ability to provide the same products from multiple plants in Asia and around the world."

"The significant investment in Cuddalore of our new Healthcare Packaging plant further strengthens our commitment to capture the growth opportunities that exist in emerging markets and specifically in the highly attractive market in India," stated Marco Cenisio, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Business Unit Masterbatches.

"It also highlights the commitment of our Busines Unit to devote a large portion of the capital budget to our Healthcare Packaging business to continue to fund its growth."
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