Sigma Aldrich Chemical Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of the a US-based life sciences and high technology major, has now moved into its new location at Bommasandra Industrial Area in the outskirts of Bangalore. The facility which has been built at a cost of Rs. 48 crore will be the new campus in India.

The new campus is on a ten acre Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) sanctioned land. The first phase of the facility has a built-up area of 140,000 square feet. It houses the Corporate Office and a Distribution Centre with a substantially expanded capacity. In addition for the research and development programmes, there is also the Custom Oligonucleotide Synthesis Unit with increased capacity and capability. The laboratories for Contract Research and Custom Synthesis and the Export Oriented Unit are also part of the first phase of development.

This world-class facility will further strengthen our ability to enhance our services to customers globally and in India, stated Raja Ram, managing director, Sigma Aldrich Chemicals.

For the Indian operations, contract research is looked at as a prime driver of growth. In this area which holds immense potential for synthetic organic chemistry companies, Sigma would specifically address specifically complex contract research assignments and not just prefer front-end library creation jobs. The current market value could perhaps be around $70-80 million. Currently, in India, GVK and Chem Biotec and Syngene are the major players.

The US-based Sigma Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL), a $1.7 billion Life Science company is spread over 36 global locations and the Indian operations look after Sri Lanka and Bangladesh business. The company's biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology manufacturing. Its customers include companies, university labs and government institutions.