Project Bulletin: March 25, 2024

Site upgrades will allow the company to increase its production capacity by 40% annually.

Photo courtesy of Jindal Aluminium Limited

After two years of transformation at Jindal Aluminium Limited’s Bhiwadi, India, site the company has announced operations will now commence. In 2022, the company paid $12 million to acquire the site from aluminum manufacturer Indo Alusys Industries Limited. Jindal Aluminium invested over $36 million to upgrade the site to include a new foundry, extrusion presses, heat treatment and surface treatment facilities. Through this enhancement the company is able to scale from 500 tons of aluminum each month to 2,500 tons, while creating 1,000 new jobs. “As the demand for engineered aluminium products continues to rise, this significant expansion aligns with our core strength of catering to the evolving market demands consistently,” said Jindal Aluminium Vice Chairman and Managing Director Pragun Jindal Khaitan. “With a steadfast focus on innovation, sustainability and quality, we are committed to contributing to the thriving economy and local community, shaping the future of the aluminium downstream industry in India.”

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This investment supports Google’s goal of growing its cloud business and AI innovations.

Photo courtesy of Google

Not only will Google deliver a new $1 billion data center investment to Kansas City, Missouri, but the company will invest over $100,000 in the North Kansas City School District. “We have reached an important inflection point for tech innovation like AI, and data centers are the backbone of this progress,” said Google Global Vice President of Cloud Supply Chain and Operations Monique Picou last Wednesday. “Our announcement today is a testament to the resources, talent and welcoming spirit of the Kansas City community. Together, Kansas City and Google will help power America’s digital future and we are excited to contribute to the bright future of the region,” The data center, which has already begnn site work, will be located at Hunt Midwest Business Center. As for advancing the skills of future talent, Google’s investment will support the local school district’s STEAM education center. Google also announced plans to bring the company’s Skilled Trades and Readiness (STAR) program to the region.

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The site will include space for production and distribution with an automated warehouse.

Photo courtesy of Merck KGaA

Germany-based pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA has plans to invest $326 million to construct a new 462,000-sq.-ft.-plus Bioprocessing Production Center in South Korea’s central city of Daejeon. “The Asia-Pacific region is home to a large number of institutions that conduct leading-edge and innovative research, manufacturing and services in areas such as biotechnology, mRNA and gene therapy,” said Merck KGaA Life Science CEO Matthias Heinzel. “Expanding our presence in the region will bring us even closer to our customers in this evolving and dynamic market. Our goal is to foster deep collaboration to increase the speed in bringing new therapies to patients.” The facility will produce products such as dry powder cell culture media, process liquids, pre-GMP small-scale manufacturing and sterile sampling systems. The new project is a part of a series of planned investments the company has planned to support rising global demand for biologics. Construction on the project is expected to be complete by 2028, creating 300 new jobs.

Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore, edited by Adam Bruns