Schott, an international specialty glass and technology group, has announced Pawan Kumar Shukla as the new managing director for Schott Glass India. Shukla brings over 25 years in the glass, lighting, pipes and electronics industry and comes with a strong background in techno-commercials. Prior to this role, he was the president operations at Surya Roshni, an Indian multinational manufacturer for specialty glass tubing and lighting.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in ceramic engineering as well as material science and metallurgy, Shukla has also worked with Corning JV in the CRT division as a manufacturing head for twelve years. Commenting on his new role, he said, “India is a frontrunner of the global pharma industry and primary pharma packaging is one of the most vital components in the entire production chain. I am proud to be associated with Schott, being one of the oldest and most trusted manufacturers of tubular glass worldwide. While the domestic market is our key focus, our India plant also caters to the Asian market, thereby contributing to the pharmaceutical industry and the Indian government’s vision of becoming a global pharmaceutical hub.”
At the Jambusar facility, Shukla’s main aim would be to achieve the full potential of his team by empowering them with responsibility, trust and acknowledgment. Further talking about the company’s overall commitment to support the Indian pharma industry, he added, “Schott also takes awareness of the Indian Health Ministry’s initiative to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to its citizens. Moreover, this year has brought many challenges due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But we are proud to be a contributor in a sector, where everyone has stepped up to fight the novel virus. We remain committed in our support to the country’s pharmaceutical value chains, by providing high-quality glass products for pharma packaging while ensuring the highest global safety standards.”
Patrick Markschlaeger, executive vice president, Schott, Business Unit Tubing, said, “Schott’s Jambusar plant is one of our most advanced tubing plants worldwide. The quality of glass produced here is at par with any other production site, including Germany. We are pleased that the manufacturing site is under the capable leadership of Mr. Shukla, who is an industry stalwart himself. He brings with him decades of technical and managerial expertise in the glass manufacturing space. We look forward to seeing Schott India achieve even higher standards and success under his guidance.”
Presently, Schott is delivering its highly specialised Fiolax glass tubes to leading pharma packaging players in India and abroad for preparing primary packaging products such as vials, syringes, etc. Supporting the world’s fight against Covid-19 with vials capable of holding up to 2 billion vaccination doses, the German leader has reached agreements and started supplying to leading pharmaceutical companies including key players in India.
Given the exponential rise in demand for quality glass for pharma packaging, Schott had inaugurated a new tank facility in its Jambusar plant, following an investment of €21 million in 2018. Even before the Coronavirus pandemic, the company had forecast a rapid growth trend, and had thus committed additional investments of €26 million for yet another tank facility last year. With a combined investment of €47 million and two new plants, Schott’s India plant is well on track to double its production capacity, enabling supply of its Fiolax glass tubing for both domestic and export demands.