Regional President: G S Krishnan

Developing solutions

Maintaining its position as the enzymes leader in India, Novozymes South Asia is now strengthening its research capabilities by partnering with local entities

The largest supplier of industrial enzymes to industries across the spectrum in India, Novozymes has a 47 percent share of the global enzyme market. Currently Novozymes provides enzyme solutions for the detergent, food, feed, textile, leather, oils and fats, beverage alcohol, and biofuel industries. Novozymes India has registered estimated revenues of 297.7 crore in 2011-12. It believes in constant innovation to leverage technology platform, and growing its portfolio of sustainable solutions to various businesses.

A few years back, the emphasis on R&D efforts, resulted in the scaling up of the research center which now houses the center of excellence for the wine and juice sector. Today, the center is not only involved with fulfilling the requirements of local customers but also in the application development for the needs of global entities.

This year Novozymes entered into an exploratory agreement with Sea6 Energy, a young startup involved in using novel methodologies for the conversion of seaweed into biofuels. Novozymes will be involved in identifying the kind of enzymes that are required for the conversion of available sugars in the biomass in the sea water, while Sea6 is developing the technology of cultivating the seaweed at offshore locations. The research alliance will use enzymes to convert seaweed-based carbohydrates to sugar, which can then be fermented to produce ethanol for fuel, fine chemicals, proteins for food, and fertilizers for plants.

The collaboration with Praj Industries, which started a few years ago for development of second generation biofuels is also steadily moving ahead. The pilot production plant for the same is currently under evaluation. The team is now exploring the use of local biomass such as corn cobs and bagasse for the production of biofuels. Additionally, Novozymes also launched Cellic CTec3 in India. It is an enzyme for better conversion of biomass to ethanol. Novozymes is looking to maintain its growth in the next couple of years and increase awareness for environmentally friendly solutions in industrial processes.

Key Achievements	Performance highlights	Key strategy initiatives	Future plans
The R&D team has grown to over 40 today. Novozymes entered into an exploratory agreement with Sea6 Energy for researching enzymes for the conversion of seaweed into biofuels. The collaboration with Praj for production of 2nd generation biofuels has progressed with the pilot production plant for the same currently under evaluation.	Novozymes is the largest supplier of industrial enzymes and micro organisms to industries across the spectrum in India. Has seen a healthy 23% growth in enzymes business especially in the household care, food and beverages industries.	Is looking to partner with local companies to provide sustainable solutions that are region specific. Initiated a program on research on Indian flat breads on these lines. Hopes to capitalize on the increased awareness for environmentally friendly solutions.	Target organic sales growth of more than 10% p.a. Novozymes is planning to further strengthen its position in the country by enhancing its global portfolio and developing local solutions to gain further foothold in the Indian market.