Bubbling with confidence to lead their companies into a bright future, the young third generation leaders of India’s leading chemical players are clear about their priorities. And as one of the key drivers of growth, sustainability remains at the core of their strategies.

The third generation entrepreneurs, Jashan Bhumkar, Director, Soujanya Color and Mihir Shah, Director, Vipul Organics recently shared their perspectives on the growing role of sustainable approach in chemical industry at the NextGen Chemicals & Petrochemicals Summit 2022 recently organized by the Indian Chemical News.  The highly interesting session, ‘Future Leaders: Managing Sustainable Growth’ was moderated by Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News. 

Humble beginning, deep learning

“Out of our 40 years business, we were mostly into the paint industry and limited only to India. At some point of time, we deliberated on the reasons why we were just limited to one industry and geography, and we decided that it was time to expand,” said Jashan Bhumkar, Director, Soujanya Color while sharing the backdrop about the company’s evolution.

Explaining further, Bhumkar added: “We have been lauded on the decision to create a subsidiary in Mexico but it was a conservative one. It takes 2-3 months for a shipment to reach there and during the Covid times it took even 6 months. The far off location, cost factor and language barrier was making it difficult for us to manage it from India. Though the opportunities were good and the market was waiting for the reliable color and suppliers to give them consistent supply. That was the thought behind diversifying into two different industries. It was more of a survival strategy.”

“In the 1960s, we started with pigment intermediates, known as naphthols. There were two companies that used to make naphthols and these were Vipul and Atul. Initially the focus was on exporting the products as it used to get sold off easily in the global market. Our capacity was limited and we had to be limited in what we were doing at that time. Gradually we did a lot of diversification in the product portfolio and we got into pigments in early 2000. When I joined 8 years back the domestic market was extremely slow but knew consciously that India’s growth story will do well. We were already exporting to 45 countries and the intention was to create a good network chain here in India. That is when I took the responsibility of creating a network domestically and we were successful in doing so. For me, it was a blank slate and in terms of numbers it looks easier but there is a long road ahead ,” said Mihir Shah, Director, Vipul Organics. 

Sustainability to remain at the core of future operations 

“In terms of sustainable growth, I take pride in the fact that when nobody got into zero liquid discharge, we were first in the pigment industry to set up one of the largest plants in Maharashtra,” said a highly elated Mihir Shah.

“We now have a total of three plants in the state and one of the chemical plants has been located in Palghar since 1972. When we talk about sustainability, consciously Vipul Organics has been instrumental in investing into effluent treatment plants and being self-sustainable. Most of our plant operations are on zero liquid discharge,” added Shah.

“We are incurring a huge operating cost but down the line I would really want that there should be a level playing field for players operating in the color. That way there will be no feeling of missing out. If the company has no zero discharge facility, the extra cost will not be borne by it. A customer will certainly appreciate the zero discharge initiative but ultimately it comes down to the cost. Therefore, it is important that we have a harmonized regulatory system on the pattern of US-FDA for the pharma industry. It will be helpful to have a common system where the SOPs are the same for similar industries. That could bring down cost effectively and bring all the companies on the same page,” opined Shah.

Collaborative approach and human resources have helped us to implement many sustainability driven initiatives, says Bhumkar.

 “We had a bit more traditional approach where we thought that we would ask what we required from our suppliers and they should provide it to us. We thought if we didn’t get it, it would be impossible to bring the change. However, at some point of time we changed our mindset and having open ears and developing a lot more respect for suppliers. Through open exchange of information with suppliers, we were able to share the experiences and knowledge. Together we were able to grow with each other. If everybody is following EHS together, that in itself would be a great collaboration,” added Bhumkar.

 Innovation pays off in longer run

“The container dryer technology was not there with most of the pigment companies but we decided to adopt the technology and it ultimately paid off.  We were among the second or third companies which got this technology in India through tech transfer agreement. Now we get 250 kg per hour output from that machine. The investment into this technology was not that huge besides we wanted to adopt newer technologies which no other Indian companies seemed interested in,” said Mihir Shah.

 “Spending on applications, newer technologies and products is a must for our industry. We want to reduce the dependence on Germany companies who are dominating the high performance pigment segment. We have taken efforts to get those technologies and manufacture them here. Our philosophy has been to think global and act local. Even western companies are trusting Indian suppliers and want to shift their operations here. The culture, trust factor and technology are the driving factors,” added Shah.

 Cost factors affect us but also pushes our boundaries, feels Jashan Bhumkar.  

“The cost factor has pushed us to innovate new combinations of pigments that we have been manufacturing for a long time. That doesn’t mean we would substitute the older pigment with a cheaper alternative. Rather we have to at times use expensive pigment and process it in a way so as to get the better performance. That is where we have gradually moved into cost competitiveness. We have been able to re-formulate and re-look at the strategies to create cost effective products. Even the minutest things such as the shape of a tip on the machine affecting the tenting strength, and the cost were studied,” concludes Bhumkar.