Unilever will invest €35M to upgrade its Mumbai & Bengaluru R&D hubs and launch a Bio-Futures partnership in India, the firm said on Nov 4.

The group wants its Indian labs to turn ideas into products faster, using AI and closer ties with start-ups and universities. Mumbai gets a new role.

Unilever plans to turn its Mumbai centre into a Product Innovation Centre.

In plain terms, ideas will move from consumer research to design, quick prototypes and market rollout under one roof.

The space will also host academics, suppliers, start-ups and design experts.

Bengaluru keeps its role as a global hub for science, technology and partnerships.

Its work covers core science, digital and AI skills and India foods R&D, along with tie-ups with universities and start-ups.

Across both sites, scientists will lean on AI, robot-assisted experiments, predictive models and digital twins, which are virtual copies of products or processes used to test ideas before building them.

Unilever says this should help teams try more options and learn faster. Unilever will also spend €5 million over five years on the Bio-Futures partnership.

It will link the company’s global R&D network with India’s growing bioscience scene, including research institutions, start-ups and talent.

Work will centre on human biology, microbiome science, biotechnology, biomanufacturing and AI-enabled biology. The announcement follows earlier spending.

Over the past five years, Unilever has put more than €20 million into Indian R&D, including a Liquids Lab of the Future, the Unilever Fragrance House and AI and digital modelling platforms.

India is already one of Unilever’s largest R&D hubs, with more than 800 scientists, researchers, digital specialists and designers.

Richard Slater, Unilever’s Chief Research and Development Officer, called India a critical global R&D centre.

Priya Nair, Managing Director and CEO of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, said the investment shows confidence in the country’s scientific talent and its growing strength in bioscience and biomanufacturing.

None of the reports gives a completion date for the upgrade.

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