Life science and photonics technology developer PerkinElmer Inc. of Waltham, Mass., said Wednesday it has acquired the remaining minority interest in PerkinElmer India Pvt. Ltd., a direct sales, service and marketing operation targeting India's life science and analytical instrumentation markets, from Labindia Instruments Pvt. Ltd. The transaction establishes PerkinElmer India Ltd. as a subsidiary of PerkinElmer. Jai Shankar was named president of PerkinElmer India. The company said it will open a new India headquarters in Mumbai, and a new technical support and applications center in the second half of 2007. PerkinElmer India now employs approximately 170 people in Bangalore, Baroda, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Thane. "The establishment of a 100-percent-direct operation in India demonstrates our continued commitment to accelerate growth in the country's rapidly expanding health sciences market," said Gregory L. Summe, PerkinElmer chairman and CEO. "Customers in the region will benefit from an increased level of applications and technical support, as well as direct access to a wider range of PerkinElmer products. A stronger India presence will enable us to react faster to changing needs and develop new solutions specifically for the market." PerkinElmer said in a statement that India is a key market with growth opportunities in pharmaceutical research, neonatal and maternal screening, and environmental monitoring. "We are pleased to have a leader of Jai's caliber and experience driving the growth of the new India organization," said Lapo Paladini, president of PerkinElmer Asia. "Also, we are grateful to Labindia, our partner in India for the past 25 years. This partnership has generated strong results to date for both parties, and has enabled us to move to this next phase of our growth." For more information, visit: www.perkinelmer.com