R&D Operations shift to India and China

A survey of 186 top companies found more than three-quarters of research and development sites planned through 2007 are slated for India and China.

Dow Chemical, which spends about $1 billion a year on R&D, has less than 100 R&D staff in China right now but 4,000 in the U.S. and 1,000 in Europe. But by the end of next year it hopes to have opened a new facility in India and expanded an existing one in China. These will be home to 1,200 staff. Dow doesn't plan to build any new facilities in the U.S. If Dow Chemical built new R&D facilities in the U.S. instead of China and India, it could only hire one-third of the employees it needs.

This means, with the IT trends of google and many others stepping into Indian cities, there seems Business houses round the globe are believing more in Indian talents and potentialities. Corporations are finding that their R&D dollars go a long way and can do the same quality research and get the same results for a limited budget.

- ilaxi, swagat