Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, announces today that it has opened a new manufacturing facility for producing engineering plastics compounds in India. With this new greenfield facility, DSM underlines its long term commitment to one of the world's largest and fastest growing emerging economies.

The plant, located at a 25 acre site at MIDC Ranjangaon industrial zone, about 60 kilometers from Pune, triples capacity for the production of Akulon® PA6, Arnite® PBT and PET and Stanyl® PA46 in India. It is also the largest polyamide and polyester compounding facility in the country. Materials produced by the facility are used in manufacturing molded components for the automotive, electrical and electronics and consumer goods industries.

An increased presence in emerging economies is one of the key strategic drivers of DSM's Vision 2010 strategy. India, with an average GDP growth of nearly 7% in the past ten years, is an important part of this strategy.

"This investment is an important step forward in increasing our presence in India. It also confirms our long term commitment to the country. We are impressed with the growth of our Indian operations and this facility will help to achieve further profitable growth in the future", said Nico Gerardu, member of the Managing Board of DSM.

"This new facility allows DSM Engineering Plastics to produce closer to our customers and puts us in an even better position to support customers in the early stages of new product and application development as well as testing of polymers. India has also provided us with educated, motivated and talented people. Their dedication, customer focus and creativity are instrumental for our success in this important market", said Jayant Dhobley, president of DSM Engineering Plastics Asia Pacific.

DSM Engineering Plastics' success in India is highlighted by its association - from an early phase onwards - with the Tata Nano car, which will be launched later this month. For more than 20 parts in under the bonnet components as well as parts for transmission, DSM's engineering plastics have been approved.

In addition to the injection molding compounds, DSM has also introduced innovative and differentiated products for the film market such as Akulon® XP, which combine better processing with higher quality, further demonstrating long term commitment to the Indian market.

DSM has been directly marketing and manufacturing engineering plastics in India since 1999 and has consistently realized growth well above market rates. In less than a decade, DSM Engineering Plastics has achieved market leadership positions in relevant markets in India.

The new facility further improves customer service levels and gives Indian customers enhanced access to DSM's global technology base. DSM applies the same high technology and environmental standards as used in its other manufacturing operations around the world. The plant is fully equipped with best-in-class safety, health and environment compliance systems and uses state-of-the-art compounding technology. The design of the manufacturing facility allows for additional capacity expansion to accommodate further growth in demand in the future.

DSM Engineering Plastics
DSM Engineering Plastics is one of the world's leading suppliers of engineering thermoplastics, with a permanent focus on innovation. Most recently, DSM Engineering Plastics introduced the first new polymer of the 21st century: Stanyl® ForTii(TM). DSM Engineering Plastics delivers Living Solutions: Materials that support a durable vision of people, planet and profit for customers who design or produce electrical applications, electronic equipment, cars, barrier packaging films as well as many mechanical and extrusion applications. DSM Engineering Plastics offers a broad portfolio of high performance materials, including Akulon® 6 and 66 polyamides, Arnitel® TPC, Arnite® PBT and PET polyesters, Xantar® polycarbonate, Yparex® extrudable adhesive resins and Stanyl® PA46, global market leader in high heat polyamides. DSM Engineering Plastics is part of the performance materials cluster of DSM, with sales in 2008 of EUR 761 million and 1500 employees worldwide. More information: www.dsmep.com