Ion Exchange India sets up new R&D facility in Hyderabad.

Water and environment management solutions provider, Ion Exchange (India) Ltd., has set up a new Research and Development (R&D) facility at Patancheru in Hyderabad with an investment of ₹30 crore.

The facility, which has 45 researchers already working, “will further strengthen the Mumbai-based company’s chemicals, resins and membranes business in India and globally,” Rajesh Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, Ion Exchange told at a press conference on Friday. “It will develop new resins, membranes, polymers and speciality chemical technologies related to water, waste water treatment, process separation and purification,” he added.

The microbiology lab within the centre will lay emphasis on enzyme research and application especially for the textile, food and beverage industries. “Many of the these products are import substitutes with very large potential for enhancing company’s exports,” Ajay Popat, president, Ion Exchange said. The chemicals, resins and membranes business, of which the new R&D centre is a part, contributed to about 35 per cent of ₹1200 total revenue of the company in the last financial year, he added.

This facility will be second major R&D centre for Ion Exchange after its R&D and Technology Centre in Mumbai. Ion Exchange’s scrip has gained 0.96 per cent by the noon and is trading at ₹651 on the Bombay Stock Exchange recently.

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