Mumbai: Dow India, a unit of chemical major Dow is ready to invest around $100 million on a research and development (R&D) centre at Chakan near Pune.

The new R&D facility would be established on 100-acres, which will be operable by next three years (2010).

Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd’s India chief executive officer, Vipul Shah and industry secretary V.K. Jairath has signed up a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and the company’s international executive president Michael Gambrell.

The new R&D centre will appoint 500 scientists by 2010, and it will perform research in different fields such as personal care, building material, plastic chemicals, water, paints and coatings in addition to basic research in chemistry plus chemical engineering.

The centre would also serve up various clients throughout the world, and will speed up the company’s growth in the region by offering excellent client support, application development and specific problem-solving.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra said, “I am happy with this development and confident that Dow`s track-record as a global leader will see setting up of a world-class R&D centre at Chakan putting this small village on the global R&D map.”

“The Government is determined to consolidate Maharashtra’s position as the No.1 industrialized state in the country.  I am confident that this new R&D facility will accelerate the industrial growth of the region,” Mr. Deshmukh added.

Vipul Shah, CEO, Dow Chemical International, said, “With total investment going beyond USD 100 Million, the Centre will have the capacity to bring a new product to market – from concept to commercialization.  The R&D Centre will be an integrated centre, serving multiple clients and geographies and will accelerate growth of the region through customer support, application development and problem solving in the areas of water, personal care, paints and coatings.  Dow India is excited that the Centre will partner with government laboratories and educational institutions, funding research to generate intellectual property.”