Dow’s Rs400cr Pune project is hit by Bhopal verdict

The national furore following the weak judgement in the world’s worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, has further complicated plans by Dow Chemicals International (Dow India)  to establish  a Rs 400 crore global Research and Development (R&D) centre at Chakan in Pune district.

A company spokesperson told DNA on Saturday that Dow is “evaluating the tenability of this location at Chakan” while awaiting an evaluation report from the Maharashtra government on the Rs400 crore project.

“We are now waiting for the report and parallely also evaluating the tenability of this location at Chakan,” Dow’s official spokesperson said.

Pune district collector Chandrakant Dalvi told DNA that Dow has shifted its machinery from the Chakan site. “There is no work going on at the site,” he said.

Explaining this, Dow’s spokesperson said: “There were some serious security breaches at our premises in Chakan wherein people walked in and took away some materials kept at the location. Therefore, to safeguard the security we have shifted some loose materials to other locations as there was also a safety threat to our security personnel posted there.”

It was on the October 31, 2007 that Dow India signed an MOU with the Maharashtra government to establish a Global R&D Centre at village Shinde near Chakan.

Dow had planned a world-class centre housing approximately 600 scientists and a state-of-the-art facility to develop innovative technologies  in the areas of energy, water, health, construction, transportation, personal and household care.