Indorama Ventures, the Thailand-based petrochemical giant headed by India-born business tycoon Aloke Lohia, is setting up its global business service centre in Calcutta.
The company, which also has a manufacturing presence in Haldia, has taken up 17,500 square foot of lease space at Candor Tech Space, the IT Special Economic Zone, at Rajarhat.
It will initially deploy 200-250 people who will look after finance and procurement for the behemoth, which has a global footprint spanning Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. The company, which is listed on Thailand bourses as well as Dow Jones in the US, employs 24,000 people and had earned a consolidated revenue of $11.4 billion in 2019.
The Calcutta operations are likely to start in the second half of this year. In the second phase, IndoRama Ventures’ lease is likely to go up to 40,000 sq ft when the headcount will be 500.
The establishment of the centre, which is being announced about a year after Aloke Lohia, vice-chairman and executive director of IndoRama, participated in the Bengal Global Business Summit, is part of an initiative by the company to retain its competitive position.
The centre will enhance IVL’s agility, drive process standardisation and support future growth among others, Indorama said in a statement.
“We decided to set up a global hub with a business service centre in Calcutta as it offers multiple advantages, including a versatile talent pool, first-class infrastructure, government support for growth, global connectivity and cultural strength. The GBS will create local job opportunities,” said Sanjay Ahuja, chief financial officer of Indorama Ventures.
Bengal is not an uncharted territory for the Lohia family. Indorama has partnered Chandra Kumar Dhanuka’s Dhunseri Petrochem to own a PET plant, a raw material for plastic bottles, containers for food and pharma industry, in Haldia. He later extended the partnership with Dhanuka by taking over Dhunseri’s Egyptian venture.
Sri Prakash Lohia, elder brother to Aloke and chairman of the company, recently bought a fertiliser plant in Haldia from Tata Chemicals. Sri Prakash manages Indorama Corporation, which is based out of Indonesia.