BASF India Limited : BASF Kids' Lab held at Bangalore's Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum

News Release

BASF Kids’ Lab held at Bangalore’s Visvesvaraya

Industrial & Technological Museum

¾ Students learn about chemistry in every day life

¾ Six hands-on experiments demonstrate importance of chemistry

¾ 150 students participate from schools across Bangalore

Bangalore, India – May 23, 2011 – BASF has joined hands with the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum in Bangalore to hold its global educational programme - BASF Kids’ Lab. The Museum hosted the one day program today, where 150 Class 7-10 students from schools across Bangalore experienced the magic of chemistry.

2011 is the International Year of Chemistry, a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. To mark this event, BASF has launched numerous initiatives to encourage science education. BASF Kids’ Lab gives youngsters the chance to experience chemistry hands on and understand how chemistry works and what it can do.

Speaking about BASF Kids’ Lab, Mr. Prasad Chandran, Chairman BASF Companies in India & Head South Asia said, “BASF Kids’ Lab focuses on educating today’s youth about the role of chemistry in building a sustainable future. Through simple, fun-filled experiments, we hope to encourage students to develop an interest in science and chemistry.”

Dr. Shivaprasad Khened, Director, Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, said, “The response received from students is overwhelming. We hope that BASF Kids’ Lab will inspire students to become scientists who can help build the future.”

BASF Kids’ Lab featured six interesting experiments, demonstrated under

Media contacts

Sunita Sule

Tel: [phone]

Mobile: [phone] [e-mail]

Saswati Panigrahi

Tel: [phone]

Mobile: [phone] [e-mail]

BASF is a

Global Sponsor

Corporate Communications

BASF India Limited

1st Floor, Vibgyor Towers, Plot No. C-62, ‘G’ Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai-400 051

Website: www.basf-india.com

Page 2

the expert guidance of BASF mentors. The experiments included – Snow Ball, Jolly Jelly, Liquid Concrete, Magic Fire, Color Lock and Mission Impossible. In the “Jolly Jelly” experiment, children observed how super absorbant can absorb water, and how it is applied in baby diapers. The “Liquid Concrete” experiment enlightened students on how a superplasticizer mixed with sand and cement can reduce the usage of water in making a concrete mix. The result is sturdier buildings and water conservation.

BASF Kids’ Lab is an interactive chemistry education program first launched at BASF’s headquarters in Germany in 1997. It is a part of the company's global Sustainable Development Program. The concept is based on educational findings and intensive research conducted in Europe and USA. Introduced in India in 2004, BASF Kids’ Lab has been organised in partnership with several institutions and has also been part of the Science Express, a high-end Science exhibition jointly organized by the Government of India (Department of Science

& Technology) and the Government of Germany in association with the Max

Planck Society.

BASF Kids’ Lab aboard the Science Express was featured in the Limca Book of Records for being the first mobile lab to have over 15,000 students performing experiments. To date, 40,000 kids from schools across India have experienced BASF Kids’ Lab.

This is the fifth consecutive year that BASF Kids’ Lab is being held in Karnataka. It is held every year in Mangalore as part of the annual programme conducted by the District Administration.

About Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum

Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore (VITM), an institution established in the memory of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, is a constituent unit of National Council of Science Museums functioning under the Ministry of Culture, Goverment of India. Being one of the premier science museums in the country, VITM is highly respected and adored by the visitors and is a land mark public place in southern India which was opened to public in the year 1965.

About BASF in India

For more than a century, BASF has been partnering India’s progress with its vast knowledge in the field of chemistry and high quality products that cater to a wide range of industries. As a dependable partner to stakeholders, BASF offers innovative, hi-tech and safe solutions. BASF in India is currently engaged in the business of manufacturing & marketing of Styropor®, tanning

Page 3

agents, leather chemicals and auxiliaries, crop protection chemicals, textile chemicals, dispersions and specialty chemicals, performance plastics, automotive and coil coatings, construction chemicals, polystyrene and polyurethane systems. BASF is also involved in marketing a wide range of intermediates, catalysts and other chemicals for life sciences, chemical and allied industries in India.

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and agricultural products to oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of about €63.9 billion in 2010 and had approximately 109,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.comor in its Social Media Newsroom at newsroom.basf.com.