History of Technology at NCL
- NCL establishes R&D in the area of agrochemicals in response to a call from Government to achieve self sufficiency in food production and the advent of Green Revolution; Efforts spearheaded by Mr. C. Subramanian who is appointed as the Chairman of National Commission of Science and Technology (NCST) (and also Union Minister for Agriculture). Professor B.D. Tilak, Director, NCL, as a member of NCST plays a pivotal role in formulating plans for agrochemicals R&D in CSIR laboratories.
|  |
- NCL, RRL-Jorhat (NEIST) and RRL-Hyderabad (IICT) develop process chemistry, scale up as well as design engineering and offer processes to industry on a turn key basis. NCL/CSIR gives birth to the domestic agrochemical industry. A public sector company Hindustan Insecticides Limited is set up by the Government to produce agrochemicals based on CSIR developed technologies. Even today several of the first generation pesticides are manufactured by NCL/IICT/NEIST technologies.
- NCL develops process chemistry and engineering as well as plant designs for building blocks for organic chemicals, namely, acetalinide, chlorobenzene, nitrobenzene, aniline, etc. In addition, NCL contributes to the establishment of commercial production of benzoic acid, titanium tetrachloride and calcium hypophosphite for the first time in India.
- NCL establishes pilot plant facilities for Vitamin C and D-Sorbitol. NCL operates a continuous fluidized bed reactor for the chlorination of methane for the production of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform. This process is successfully transferred to M/s. Standard Mills Limited, Mumbai who established a first commercial production of these chemicals in India. These are some of the earliest instances of pilot plant facilities in India for fine chemicals.
|
 | - Based on technologies developed by NCL, Government of India sets up the first Public Sector Company for the manufacture of organic chemicals in India, Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (HOC) at Rasayani, about 100 km away from Pune. Director, NCL is appointed Chairman of HOC. NCL gives birth to the first Indian organic chemical industry.
|
