Market Insights

Dow Corning Ventures into Indian Market

Posted on 29 January, 2010 | Tags:

Silicones are incredible materials with an inimitable prospective to advance the humanity. They are transforming our present along with prospect. Record affirms that a silicone rubber boot made the initial trace on the moon.

Silicone based materials last longer, function better under harsh environment and help lower costs by improving performance, thus providing many advantages over the traditionally used organic polymer materials. Though these technologies are hugely popular in developed countries but popularity of Silicon Technologies in India is very low, observed Jean Paul Mollie, Region President Middle East South Asia and Africa, Dow Corning during his recent visit to India. The company has recently announced the creation of the world's largest online market place for silicone-based products through their Xiameter brand to reach out these technologies to the customers as per their needs and specifications.
Silicon technologies offered by Dow Corning have wide scope of application in various fields such as electronics, automotives, soaps and detergents and personal care etc. Silicone based products can speed up manufacturing processes, enhance efficiencies, reduce water and energy consumption and optimize costs significantly. For example, when high pressure is applied to any liquid foam formation results in the presence of air in the space, which ideally should be occupied by liquid. The presence of air slows down the process.  Anti foaming agents offered by Dow Corning when used in the manufacturing process prevent foam formation and eventually speed up the manufacturing process. These solutions can be applied to industries across various industries like Food, Soaps and Detergents and Oil and Gas.
India has shown promising growth during the past decade and has also grown to become a huge manufacturing base for various industries because of huge domestic consumption. Mollie emphasized on the fact of India being a huge market but lack of awareness in India. He further added that India was a huge market that Dow Corning was looking at exploring. The group has already established a manufacturing facility in Pune to offer fast services and focus on Indian market.
"Competition is keeping us going at the edge of technology and helping us stay ahead," said Mollie. Dow Corning is focused on catering to the customer's needs in developed as well as developing markets across the globe. The company is working on various fronts as per the needs of the customer that vary widely from each other in developed and developed nations. The company is looking at working in B-to-B environment with the customers, listening to their needs and is currently interacting with large number of people. The group has been growing quite stably in overseas and in India as well, said Mollie.
Though company has its own strategies and priorities but the company is open to offer solutions to all the industrial segments whoever approach them. In India, the group observes ample scope in the fields of Water Conservation and Agriculture, which are some of the key focus areas of Dow Corning.  Silicon tubings with small holes are used for drip irrigation and are currently very popular in Israel, where water is in scarcity. India being agriculture intensive country is currently facing water crisis. As awareness towards the need of managing water resources for agriculture is increasing steadily, there will be ample scope to market these products but for the lack of awareness about application of silicones, the demand may take some time to pick up.
In the effort to transform business to sustainable solutions to change people's lives, the group has been working closely with the villages around the company's manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, Pune to construct day care centers with solar panels to provide free solar power free clean solar energy for children to help them create a brighter future.
"We want to grow our business and at the same time we want to grow with the local people, which means we will acquaint them with global processes, systems and code of conduct," said Mollie. "But business is business and we will be committed to India for business," he concluded.