Clariant said it is investing approximately $10 million in a new healthcare packaging manufacturing plant in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu State, located about 25 km from the city of Puducherry. The plant 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,” said 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 manufactures a full range of controlled atmosphere packaging solutions including pharmaceutical desiccants, equilibrium sorbents, adsorbent polymers, oxygen scavengers and pharmaceutical closures and containers. The new plant in Cuddalore will initially produce desiccant canisters and packets, which are inserted into pharmaceutical packaging to control moisture and protect the stability of the medicine during shelf life. The desiccant production area will be Clean Room Class 100,000 and certified ISO 8. It will be compliant with all relevant cGMP and US FDA standards.



Dr. Deepak Parikh, region president India, Clariant, 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 specialties business and offer end-to-end solutions to our existing as well as potential customers. Clariant in India is accelerating change and continues to fulfil our commitments to all our stakeholders, as the Indian market stays at the core of Clariant’s global focus.”



The new plant will primarily serve globally active generic and branded pharmaceutical companies operating in India, as well as the domestic Indian pharmaceutical market.