It has acquired an existing R&D facility there and plans to upgrade it by adding multiple greenfield R&D laboratories with an investment of Rs 200 crore 9Rs 2 billion) in the initial phase which could go up from Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.5 billion) to Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) eventually.
This initiative marks the group's foray into non-conventional sectors including pharmaceutical ingredients and expedients. It will also house pilot plants to support the group's new areas of businesses globally.
Multinational pharma company Merck Specialities owned the Taloja property. However, the Birla group bought it from an investor who had acquired it from Merck two years ago.
The new research facility will have various project specific cells which would concentrate on different areas of product research and development, said Hamied Bhombal, senior president & chief technology officer, corporate technology strategy and services at Aditya Birla Management Corporation.
Bhombal said the group would spend Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) to kickstart the R&D operations by the end of this year. The remaining investment would be done in four phases, a source said.
"We will have world class research infrastructure which can accommodate hundreds of scientists. We already have the expertise in various chlorine-based products, which has applications in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry. Our new focus is to explore new avenues with continues research and development by leveraging the existing resources and capabilities," Bhombal added.
He said the new integrated R&D facility would support the innovation required for the group's global business requirement.
"Hence, it will be compliant to all the world standards and would attract talents from across the world on exclusive as well as consultancy basis," he added.
The group had announced its interest in biotechnology in human healthcare as well as agriculture. It has been in the look out for biotech start-up for possible acquisitions.
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