Thought leaders and other stakeholders of Indian chemical industry gathered at the 4th Edition of NextGen Chemical and Petrochemical Summit 2024 organized by the Indian Chemical News in Mumbai on July 11-12, 2024. The two day event was themed- "Transforming India into a Global Manufacturing Hub.”

The inaugural session, ‘Making India a Global Manufacturing Hub: Opportunities & Challenges’ witnessed intense deliberations on what should be the roadmap towards industry’s increased focus on indigenous manufacturing of chemicals and petrochemicals.

Pravin Prashant, Executive Editor, Indian Chemical News who welcomed the speakers and delegates shared an overview of the industry and outlined the key objectives behind the 4th edition of the summit. “There is a vast opportunity staring at the Indian Chemical Industry, Be it the construction chemicals, agriculture, automobile and pharmaceuticals, the growth targets expected by 2030 are enormous. At the same time, for achieving India’s transformation into a global manufacturing hub, we need to think big; focus on cutting edge R&D with sustainability at the core; 360 degree digital transformation; tapping potential in CMO and CDMO; focus on talent management and on quality,” said Prashant.

Bhavana Bindra, Managing Director India, Middle East and Africa, The Lubrizol Corporation in her address spoke about the need for the concerted efforts across the value chain including user perspective, supply chain, forex etc and not just the innovation level. "Given the challenges post Covid, we as an industry had to think what all we could do in terms of the value chain. We studied the user patterns in households to understand sustainability from the user perspective and thus develop products that match their expectations and needs. Apart from looking at it from an organization level, sustainability has to be looked at from a user perspective as well in terms of innovation. Since we are into additives, we think in terms of both. It is important that for an expanded manufacturing base, we must do research in India and also build a skilled workforce here in India," she opined.

Vikram Handa, Managing Director, Epsilon Carbon Pvt. Ltd. emphasized on the need to recognize the potential of processing industries which he thinks hasn't been given their due so far. "In the last five years, we have innovated a lot in graphite chemicals. Processing industry is putting a lot of investment in scaling up its operations and R&D but it has not been broadly given its due despite the fact that there is a $30 billion opportunity in the next decade. Lithium ion is one big opportunity that can be achieved through backward integration. Battery material is a huge opportunity and we can replace the imports if we build a roadmap. The good thing is that there is enough headroom for all the players to grow, both SMEs and large companies, where each stakeholder can contribute immensely to the growth," said Handa.

Sharing his insights, Sanjay Khanna, Director (Refineries), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited talked about the need for cost competitiveness of feedstocks, addressing land & power costs besides importance of free trade agreements. "By 2030, the refining capacity will reach 310 million metric tonnes from the current 250 million metric tonnes. Our contribution as a nation might not appear sufficient but BPCL took up an initiative to set up a refining plant at Kochi. As witnessed earlier in the case of the refining industry there are challenges but we are certainly going to overcome them with the support of the government and other stakeholders. The position of being a global manufacturing hub can be definitely realized with each stakeholder playing its part. India has got all the right ingredients and it is just a matter of time that we will tap the potential," mentioned Khanna.

B. Narayan, Group President, Reliance Industries Limited outlined the importance of emulating China in terms of how the country has scaled up its manufacturing which could boost the Indian economy and job market. He expressed high optimism on Indian opportunity and role of the chemical industry in achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2040.  “Indian government must focus on Make in India and for the world. We have the mindset and talent availability, and language advantage. What we need is entrepreneurial mindset, environment compliance, focus on customer service and quality. We have to ensure timely project implementation, vertical integration, cost competitiveness and build a culture of innovation.  India’s opportunity lies in AI, sustainability, bio-based products, biotech, low emission products and processes, electrochemistry among others. At the same time, China is a challenge with its scale, new technology, R&D, speed of action, infrastructure, support system and strong position in the global supply chain. We must learn from it how to build a strong manufacturing set up. However, if the government has to play a role, industry has a bigger role too,” opined Narayan.

Representing the academia on the panel, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai laid emphasis on increased industry-academia interactions and collaborations. "At our university, we have launched an initiative, We-Chemie with the support of BASF under which we identify final year chemistry students and provide them 4 month long training. Aimed at empowering women from underprivileged backgrounds, this pioneering program is to cultivate a talent pipeline of industry-ready female graduates and postgraduates in chemistry. The first batch has witnessed 100% placement with the industry. Similarly, there is a need for the academia to focus on industry readiness of the students and ensuring that at least 20% of the faculty is from the industry. We must have Professors of Practice. The core areas that need attention include AI, sustainability, biotech, and advanced catalysis. While the government has launched initiatives such as National Anusandan Research Foundation (NARF), Semiconductor Mission etc, we need to identify those talented Indian human resources working abroad who want to come back and contribute to India's growth story,” said Prof Pillai.

The Summit was supported by DCM Shriram Chemicals as principal partner, Somaiya Vidyavihar University as academia partner, Cadmatic as platinum partner and Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB), Govt. of Andhra Pradesh as state partner.

Gold partners for NextGen Chemicals & Petrochemicals were Epsilon Carbon, Forbes Marshall, Gharda Chemicals, Indofil Industries, Ingenero, IPCO, Jaaji Technologies, Moglix, PIP, Port of Antwerp - Bruges, RIECO and Re Sustainability. Associate Partners are: HPCL and Nuberg EPC.

Supporting partners included Aarayaa Advisory Services, Archroma, India Glycols and Tata Steel Special Economic Zone and industry association partners are: ACFI, AMAI, CropLife India, Gujarat Chemical Association and PMFAI.