Ashland to build production facility for Valvoline® lubricants in India

NAVI MUMBAI, India – Ashland India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), announced today it has acquired a 10-acre site in India to build a packaging and blending plant for Valvoline® branded automotive, industrial and heavy-duty lubricants.

The plant will be located in the Ambernath Industrial Area near Mumbai, and will have an initial production capacity of 100 million liters per year. Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in April, with completion targeted for late 2011. The facility will be managed by (VCL), a joint venture established in 1998 between Ashland and Cummins India Ltd. VCL is one of India’s fastest growing marketers and producers of quality branded automotive and industrial lubricants.

“Our customers know the Valvoline brand stands for superb performance and reliability, and they trust us to provide the most consistent high-quality lubricants and technological innovations available," said Naveen Gupta, managing director of Valvoline Cummins Ltd. "Our new blending facility will play a major role in these efforts, expanding our in-house production capabilities and enhancing our ability to deliver fast, localized technical service to customers in the region."

Ashland also plans to use the plant for product development and technical service activities for composites manufacturers serviced by Ashland Performance Materials in India and surrounding areas.  

“We continue to focus on growing our capabilities for serving the rapidly evolving needs of the Indian market,” said Vivek Singh, managing director of Ashland India Private Limited, and general manager of Ashland Performance Materials in India. “Today, we are well positioned to leverage the collective expertise and local infrastructure of both Ashland and our partners in India to support even greater product development and delivery of technical solutions to our customers.”

Ashland has been active in India since 1980, with the establishment of Chembond Ashland Water Technologies Ltd., a joint venture between Chembond Chemicals Ltd. and Ashland that serves the Indian water treatment industry. In November 2009, Ashland opened its new headquarters for Ashland India Private Limited in Navi Mumbai where business teams are located to support all of Ashland’s commercial units operating in the country. To meet customers’ needs, Ashland also has an extensive network of local sales, technical service and distributor representatives, located throughout India.

Ashland Inc. provides specialty chemical products, services and solutions for many of the world’s most essential industries. Serving customers in more than 100 countries, it operates through five commercial units: Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients, Ashland Hercules Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline) and Ashland Distribution. To learn more about Ashland, visit www.ashland.com.

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