Through this venture, the company will be able to improve its service to its global customers and fulfill the needs of the growing Indian plastic industry. Century Enka has transferred the manufacturing assets and application development laboratory of the engineering plastic business to DSM, said Karl Hautekiet, manager, India project. without disclosing the cost of acquisition.

Since the last two years, DSM products were being imported into the country mainly by automobile, engineering and electronic industry. Through this acquisition, DSM Engineering Plastic (India) Pvt Ltd has got a manufacturing base as well as local compounding and test facilities in Pune.

The company will continue to supply material to the market through the existing channels of consignment agencies and also work on business development throughregional management. The company is putting its team in place. Hautekiet has been the manager for the India project and will help establish and stabilise the company's operations in India before handing over the responsibility to Indian professionals.

DSM Engineering Plastics is a business group of DSM NV and is a highly integrated international chemical group with a 1998 sales of Euro 6.4 billion and a net income of Euro 415 million. DSM's activities have been grouped into three clusters - life science products, performance materials and polymers and industrial chemicals. DSM's total research expenditure increased in 1998 to four per cent of group sales.

DSM Engineering is a major player in the field of high performance thermoplastic materials and own manufacturing facilities in Europe, the US and Asia. Its product portfolio covers compounds of polyamide 6 and 6.6, (Akulon), polyamide 4.6 stanyl, thermoplastic polyesters PBT and PET (Arnite), polycarbonate (Xantar) and thermoplastics copolyesters(Arnitel).

DSM Engineering Plastic (India) will be looking to combine its worldwide product and application technology with local manufacturing and support to find a niche in the Indian market.