R&D Center to Open in Madras in 2nd Half of 2019
Lotte Holdings announced on May 29 that Lotte Group vice chairman Hwang Gak-kyu was visiting Chennai and Amadabad in India for six days until May 31.
On May 28 (local time), Hwang visited the Research Park of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) where the Lotte India R&D Center (tentative name) will be located. The R&D center is under construction for completion in the second half of this year. It will become a base for Lotte Group’s digital conversion.
Lotte plans to strengthen its global R&D capabilities by employing excellent IT personnel in India. Especially, it plans to develop technologies to realize smart factories and smart logistics such as security management of large facilities based on drones and process control solutions based on big data. It will also develop a variety of technologies that can be applied to the service and distribution sectors such as AI-based robot process automation (RPA) solutions and unmanned sales management systems.
Hwang visited Lotte Confectionery’s Choco Pie Factory in Chennai and Havmor Ice Cream Factory in Amadabad and delivered pep talks to local employees.
Lotte entered the Indian market in the late 1990s by exporting Lotte Confectionery products. In 2004, it cemented its business foundation by taking over a local confectionery company called “Paris.” Following the completion of its first Choco Pie plant in 2010, Lotte built a new plant in Delhi in 2015. In 2017, it expanded its ice cream business by acquiring the local ice cream maker Havmor. Lotte Global Logistics and Lotte Advanced Materials have also set up local subsidiaries in India to explore new business opportunities. Lotte Group is also considering pushing into various business areas such as distribution and tourism.
"India is an important base for Lotte's expansion into Southeast Asia," said Hwang. “With the opening of the R&D center at the Indian Institute of Technology, we will spur digital innovation in all business areas we are engaged in."