The Rs 200-crore NLC Nalco India, a wholly-owned su­bsidiary of Na­lco Hol­dings, USA, a­ global leader providing expertise for industrial wa­ter trea­tment and energy, h­as launched a R&D centre in Pune to serve its markets abroad. The firm will also hi­re over 100 engineers, technologists and chemists.

“We are investing Rs 340 crore in the three R&D centres in Chicago, Houston and Pune in 2010. We have already hired 50 engineers and 50 more will be added by the end of this year,” Erik Fyrwald, chairman and CEO, Nalco, said.

Nalco’s first R&D lab will have an initial investment of Rs 43 crore and focus on water and energy services, he added. “Pune centre will become one of Nalco’s major innovation hubs for water and energy technologies,” he said.

Manian Ramesh, Nalco’s chief technology officer, said the centre’s immediate focus will be to provide technical support to energy upstream (oil field) and downstream (refinery and chemical processing) customers in the Asia Pacific region, the Caspian, the West Asia, North Sea and West Africa.