US chemical giant Dow Chemical?s Indian unit is eyeing joint ventures of up to $100 million in the water and building and construction spaces, as it looks to expand its footprint in the emerging market. ?We are in talks with three or four Indian companies over a joint venture,?said Vipul Shah, chairman, CEO and president of the company?s Indian division.
He did not specify which companies Dow was in talks with, but said an announcement should be made by the first quarter.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Dow India has about 900 employees spread across ten locations in the country and is present in a number of sectors, ranging from agriculture to transport. It has four manufacturing plants in the country and sales of about $1 billion. By 2016, the company expects sales to touch $1.7 billion.
The US company first entered India in 1954 through a joint venture with Polychem. Three years later, the JV plant began production of polystyrene. Dow has historically followed a strategy of expanding its business through tie-ups with other players, and it has roughly 80 JVs at present.
In India, Dow Chemicals has been keen to distance itself from the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, when a gas leak at a plant operated by a 51% owned unit of Union Carbide (UCC), killed several thousands people.
Dow Chemicals completed its takeover of UCC in 2001, seven years after UCC had sold its Indian subsidiary to tea maker McLeod Russel India. Union Carbide?s India unit was renamed Eveready Industries India and still operates in the country.