From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 08:05 PM IST

French multinational company Saint Gobain and the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Friday announced plans for long-term research collaboration in the areas of advanced materials, energy conservation, production and environment protection.

Saint Gobain annually puts in around Rs.26 billion ($610 million) into research and development (R and amp;D) activities globally.

Addressing the media here Herve Arribart, director of the French company's R and amp;D division, said that the collaboration with institutions like IIT is in addition to Saint Gobain's in-house research activities.

'The collaboration is in line with Saint Gobain's thrust into emerging markets like India, China and eastern Europe,' he said.

The first approved project is under the guidance of A. Subrahmanyam, professor with the department of physics at IIT-M, on synthesis and characterisation of thin film materials which will find use in photovoltaic and opto-electronic applications.

'At least three other projects on similar topics will be launched by 2009,' added Sreeram Srinivasan, managing director of Saint Gobain Sekurit India Ltd.

B. Santhanam, president, Flat Glass South Asia and managing director, Saint Gobain Glass India Ltd said: 'The research team has a great advantage in using the $400mn Saint-Gobain green field facility at Sriperumbudur in Chennai as a test bed for their innovation'.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)