Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is strengthening its footprint and asset base in India. The company today announced plans to invest up to Rs 1,250 crore over the next five years (till 2023). The focus areas of  the investment will be the businesses for high-performance plastics, chemical intermediates and water treatment products.

Lanxess, which has already invested a sizeable amount in India over the years, currently operates production facilities for business units at its plant sites in Jhagadia and Nagda. Among  the products supplied by Lanxess are high-performance plastics for the automotive and electronics industries, flame retardants  for application in the automotive and construction industries, chemical intermediates and active ingredients for use in agriculture as well as ion exchange resins and reverse osmosis membranes for processing and cleaning of water.

“The Indian economy is currently the world’s fastest rising major economy, with the chemical industry one of the fastest growing sectors. We aim to better capitalise the huge potential of the Indian chemical market and are therefore now launching a major investment package,” said Hubert Fink, Member of the Board of Management of Lanxess AG.

“The demographic trend in India is leading to an increased demand in the areas of mobility, urbanization, nutrition and clean water. Lanxess can cater to these demands with its wide portfolio of specialty chemicals,” said Neelanjan Banerjee, managing director and country speaker of Lanxess in India.

Since setting up operations in India in 2004, Lanxess’ business has steadily increased in terms of asset base and turnover. In the past 10 years, sales in India have more than doubled from Rs 1,008 crore to Rs 2,608 crore. And, in the first 10 months of 2018, Lanxess India has increased its turnover by 14 percent compared to the same period in 2017.