Clariant to invest £6.5m in Healthcare Packaging plant in India
The new plant will initially produce desiccant canisters and packets, which are inserted into pharmaceutical packaging
Speciality chemicals company Clariant plans to invest CHF10m (£6.5m) in a new Healthcare Packaging manufacturing plant in southern India.
The plant is located in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, about 25km from the city of Puducherry.
It will manufacture Clariant’s moisture control products to support the growing pharmaceutical packaging market in India.
'India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally, making it a key market for Clariant’s desiccant products,' says Ketan Premani, Head of Clariant Healthcare Packaging Sales in India.
'We want to ensure that we serve our customers here as directly and efficiently as possible. When the plant is complete, they will now have the ability to procure Clariant’s global-standard products directly produced in India.'
Clariant Healthcare Packaging, a member of the Masterbatches business unit, manufactures controlled atmosphere packaging solutions including pharmaceutical desiccants, equilibrium sorbents, adsorbent polymers, oxygen scavengers and pharmaceutical closures and containers.
India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally, making it a key market for Clariant’s desiccant products
The new plant will initially produce desiccant canisters and packets, which are inserted into pharmaceutical packaging to control moisture and protect the stability of the medicine during its shelf life. The desiccant production area will be in a Class 100,000 (ISO 8) cleanroom. It will meet all relevant cGMP and US FDA standards.
Clariant's Region President - India, Deepak Parikh, 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 specialities business and offer end-to-end solutions to our existing as well as potential customers.'
The new plant will primarily serve generic and branded pharmaceutical companies operating in India, as well as the domestic Indian pharmaceutical market. According to market research firm Markets and Markets, India’s pharmaceutical packaging market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2% from 2015 to 2020. India Ratings & Research, another research company with six offices across India, recently reported that Indian drugmakers accounted for 40% US generic drug imports. It forecasts a 20% CAGR for the overall pharmaceutical market to 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 take a major role in the expanding healthcare sector across Asia, the firm said.