Lubrizol Amplifies India Commitment with Local Technology and Innovation Center

MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 31, 2025--

To accelerate India-based innovation, Lubrizol announced it will open a state-of-the-art Technology and Innovation Center in Maharashtra. The first of its kind for the company globally, the facility is designed to progress breakthrough innovations, expand collaboration, and enhance speed to market for Lubrizol and the many customers and industries it serves both in the region and globally.

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The center will empower collaboration across Lubrizol, co-locating lab capabilities and expanding on the success of existing in-region technology Centers of Excellence (COE). The site will also include a Customer Experience Center, allowing Lubrizol to co-develop solutions with customers and partners. The facility will feature advanced analytical capabilities to support research needs, including automation and digital tools, allowing teams to apply decision science to accelerate next-generation solutions.

“Lubrizol has been synonymous with innovation for nearly 100 years, and this new center represents a significant commitment to our innovation locally,” said Bhavana Bindra, Lubrizol’s Managing Director India, Middle East and Africa. “ The Technology and Innovation Center represents a significant commitment to our journey in the region . By bringing together expertise across multiple Lubrizol businesses, this facility will be a cornerstone of collaboration, automation and technological advancement for our teams and all those we serve.”

“An innovation center in Maharashtra provides proximity to key stakeholders, fostering seamless collaboration and operational efficiencies. Through a highly collaborative working space, the center enables strategic research and development, leveraging the best of our legacy innovation and formulation processes with future-state technology to help us take our quality innovation one step further,” said Dr. Rahul Misra, Lubrizol’s Sr. Director of Technology, India, Middle East and Africa.

Rebecca Liebert, Lubrizol’s President and Chief Executive Officer, added, “The Technology and Innovation Center will serve as a model for future global centers, aligning with our strategy of establishing interconnected innovation centers worldwide. Our innovation teams in India have already enabled significant innovation in the many industries we serve, including earning the company global customer innovation awards. We expect this center to expand on those successes.”

Lubrizol’s commitment to local R&D and innovation has been an active part of Lubrizol’s decades-long legacy in India. As one example, Lubrizol introduced CPVC piping to the India market 25 years ago, enabling clean drinking water for thousands across the region. Today the region is a global leader in CPVC technology. Lubrizol’s India Bar Soap COE has helped improve the structural integrity and sustainability of bar soap, ensuring soaps last longer and create less waste, earning recognition from leading global brands. To support emerging regulatory changes and trends in transportation, the company also has a variety of in-region innovators focused on next-generation additive solutions.

Lubrizol’s Technology and Innovation Center announcement follows multiple Lubrizol investment announcements, with a more than $350 million USD commitment into India over the last 18 months. This includes bolstering Lubrizol’s manufacturing strength in the region with plans to construct the company’s second largest manufacturing facility globally to support the region’s growing transportation and industrial markets, as well as a collaboration to build the world’s largest CPVC resin plant.* The company also opened a Global Capability Center in Pune last year, doubled its capacity at its Dahej, Gujarat, manufacturing site and announced several other projects. The new Lubrizol Technology and Innovation Center will continue to expand Lubrizol’s network in India.

* World’s largest based on single-site capacity for CPVC resin

About Lubrizol

Lubrizol, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a science-based company whose specialty chemistry delivers sustainable solutions to advance mobility, improve well-being and enhance modern life. Every day, the innovators of Lubrizol strive to create extraordinary value for customers at the intersection of science, market needs and business success, driving discovery and creating breakthrough solutions that enhance life and make the world work better. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has global reach and local presence, with more than 100 manufacturing facilities, sales and technical offices and more than 7,000 employees around the world. For more information, visit www.Lubrizol.com.

From left to right: Indu Anand, Lubrizol Chief Public Affairs Officer; Rebecca Liebert, Lubrizol President & CEO; Sujata Saunik, IAS, Chief Secretary of Maharashtra; Bhavana Bindra, Managing Director-IMEA

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary on Wednesday gave assurances of Britain's interest in the Western Balkan region while visiting Kosovo, urging both Kosovo and Serbia to make progress in normalization talks.

David Lammy was on the second day of a visit to Kosovo where he met with senior officials, calling on Pristina to form a new Cabinet quickly following the country's Feb. 9 parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje!, won 48 seats in the 120-seat parliament, falling short of a majority.

Lammy assured Kosovar officials that “the U.K. continues to play its essential role as a key friend and partner of this great nation.”

The secretary expressed support for the EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia normalization talks. Both countries aspire to join the bloc.

“This is a region that matters to Britain,” he said at a briefing after meeting with Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani. “We want a lasting, peaceful normalization."

Kosovo-Serbia ties remain tense and the 14-year-long normalization talks have failed to make progress.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade and its key allies Russia and China refuse to recognize.

Later in Serbia, Lammy discussed efforts at Kosovo-Serbia normalization with President Aleksandar Vucic, who has faced months of anti-corruption protests triggered by a deadly train station canopy crash that killed 16 people.

Serbia plays a “fundamental role” in delivering stability in the Balkans, Lammy said at a joint news conference with Vucic.

Lammy also hailed an agreement with Serbia to combat people smuggling in the Balkans, addressing the surge of migrants reaching the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel.

Vucic said that Serbia and the U.K. have different views regarding Kosovo's independence but agree that “dialogue is of key importance and that problems should be solved through talks to find compromise solutions.”

The EU and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to implement agreements reached two years ago that include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and Serbia’s obligation to provide de facto recognition of Kosovo.

“I hope that the next government will address all citizens' needs, including by making progress to integrate Kosovo Serbs and engage vigorously in the EU-led dialogue,” said Lammy.

Around 11,400 people died in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, mostly from Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority. A 78-day NATO air campaign ended the fighting and pushed Serbian forces out.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic arrive for a press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy listens to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, listens Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after a press conference, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a press conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrives to speak during a G5+ Foreign Ministers meeting in Madrid, Spain, Monday March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul White)