December 14, 2021

Speakers are: Sanchita Banerjee, ED - Special Projects, Oil India Ltd.; B. Narayan, Group President, Reliance Industries Ltd.; Subikash Jena, ED - I&C, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd; Manoj Jha, GM – Petchem Strategy, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.; Saugata Chaudhuri, Head - Petrochemicals Marketing, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd; and Sudeep Maheshwari, Partner, Kearney India.

December 14, 2021

Speakers are: Avila D’Souza, Leader – Value Acceleration, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd.; Karthik Nilagiri, General Manager – Corporate Affairs, Reliance Industries Ltd.; Shisher Kumra, Founder & ED, GPC; and Dr. Jayachandran Nair, CEO, GPC India.

December 14, 2021

Speakers are- Bimal Puri, Vice President & CIO, SRF Technical Textiles; Atul Govil, CTO & Head, India Glycols Ltd.; Suresh Nambiar, CGM – Strategic Information Systems, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.; Partha Sur, General Manager – Technology, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.; Sunil Patil, Senior Director, Solution Consulting, APJ, AspenTech; Dr. Pratap Nair, President & CEO, Ingenero Technologies; Praveen Kapse, Vice President - Global Strategy and Innovation, Tridiagonal Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; and Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News

December 14, 2021

October 04, 2021

Indian Chemical News spoke exclusively to Rajesh Aggarwal, Vice Chairman, Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) on the sideline of recently concluded 58^th AGM of the Federation. During the AGM, the Federation unanimously decided to honour Padam Bhushan awardee Rajju Shroff as Chairman of CCFI. Aggarwal shared his candid views on the challenges faced by the agrochemical sector, PMB, collaborations, and the way forward.

With all sorts of challenges such as the Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), 2020, COVID-19 and new committee at CCFI, is it going to be the continuity with change or paradigm shift at CCFI to give a push to the agrochemicals industry in India?

To talk about CCFI, today is our 58^th AGM, which means it is one of the oldest associations and constitutes the companies that are the real players in the country. So we are responsible for 50% of the business, which is happening in India. It is our members holding about 90% of the agrochemical which is going out of India. Therefore, I can say that our focus is Manufacture in India, Make in India, Invent in India and we are the people who spend in R&D and farmer training programmes.

I am very happy that we have found a very dynamic team under the leadership of Mr. Deepak Shah, myself Rajesh Agarwal, Natu Bhai. So I think we will be able to do good service for farmers. The main theme of our association is the Make in India and to bring down the technology products in the reach of common farmers and we should be able to successfully do that.

What about the kind of challenges this industry is facing in terms of perception?

It is a big challenge because our industry, despite being the saviors of crops, is looked down upon. While pesticides should be treated as medicine, it is being treated as poison. Maybe the efficacy is like that but it does not deserve to be considered so bad in the society because ultimately we are ensuring the food safety and we are assuring the margins for the farmers who are working hard in their fields. Yes, I agree that we need to do a lot to improve our image. Our committee has taken a decision to start a programme called, ‘Insecticide Zaroori Hai’ where all the CCFI member companies and even those who are not under our umbrella will participate. Under the initiative, we are trying to create a portal so that we can reach the masses through social media.

Are you trying to take the help of academia and other associations, including that of farmers, to create awareness about agrochemicals? There are also concerns about the duplicate products in the market. What are you doing about that?

There is no denying the fact that pseudo-pesticide or pseudo- biopesticide products do exist in the market. A small share is taken by them and it is a big loss for both farmers and to the country. The government on its part is definitely trying to help through new programmes such as QR code tracking to check the origins of the products which is a very good move. All our members plan to do it and we are going to encourage the same as it will reduce the duplicity from the market. There are a few other challenges such as cheaper imports from China. You have to set up large plants here to counter that. For manufacturing here and backward integration, we will require bigger investments to make the raw materials. For doing that, there has to be surety of business and to compete with cheap Chinese products is indeed a challenge. The efforts are going on in this direction continuously. We have been growing and this year only the exports from our country have increased a lot and we see it doubling in the next three years. And with the type of support we expect from the government, we have been demanding, I still believe that the market size of the agrochemical sector in India is going to improve. That doesn’t mean the quantity of the agrochemical is going to improve. Yet we get the permission to make the new generation molecules, which will be made cheaper in India, will be available to farmers at a particular price, it will increase the market size and chemistries in India will be better.

What is your take on the amendments in the PMB?

We have made our final presentation in front of a parliamentary committee. That is totally confidential and I cannot reveal much on that. However, I can say that we are expecting many reforms and have communicated our demands to the government, particularly as we believe the government can have parallel two acts, the Farmer Act and Food Act. It should be treated at par and not differentiated from each other. If it is done, the Indian manufacturing gets supported because at certain places, the imports are given the preference and formulation imports are also given the preference. If at the same time, manufacturing is given preference, we too have the capability and capacity. We can increase the market share and size and also help the farmer in doubling their income.

What about bringing the agrochemicals under the PLI scheme?

It is the key agenda for the last one and half years. We have been pursuing it very aggressively with the various ministries. We have formed a special committee which is called, Make In India Committee and is working on it strongly. I am very confident that we will receive something very positive from the government in this direction.

Since many associations such as FICCI and CII are working on the agrochemicals policy, is there any effort to bring all of them under one umbrella and create a confederation to give a push to this industry?

Yes, that is something which is highly required by the industry. A few times, the views of the industry are viewed differently due to different representations. There is an importing lobby, there is a manufacturing lobby and others who have differing views but ultimately, the final goals are to help the farmer, increase productivity, increase income from the farming, and to create employment. If all of these are common goals, there should be no room for distortion of words. We have taken a pledge in our AGM that we will try to bring all the associations together to reduce the gaps and there is one voice before the government.

September 29, 2021

Deepak Shah, the newly elected Chairman of the India’s oldest agrochemical association, Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), spoke to Indian Chemical News on the sidelines of 54^th AGM yesterday. Shah shared his views on goals of the association, its initiatives and outlook. 

Congratulations on being elected as the Chairman of CCFI. Agrochemical industry is riddled with fragmentation of the associations and they are working on silos. Do you have any plan to bring all these associations under one roof to make the voice stronger before the government?

I believe all the associations must work together. There are differences on a few issues besides that wherever issues are common, we will work hand in hand with them. And we all must work hand in hand and must present a single voice to the government. Wherever the issues are there or if there is a difference of opinion, we can separately approach the government for those points but wherever we have common issues which affect us or all of them, we will work together. We don’t consider other associations as our competitors, rather we want to work jointly for the industry.

There is a negative perception about the industry among common people and farmers. As one of the oldest associations, what are you planning to do on creating awareness to spread the message that pesticides or agrochemicals are here to benefit India and to benefit farmers and it has a major contribution to make India self-reliant on food?

You are absolutely correct. Without judicious use of agro-chemicals including pesticides we may not be able to produce the amount of food in the surpluses we have today.  As you are aware, we are one sixth of the world’s population. With every 6^th person being Indian globally, we have the second largest population in the world. Looking at the geographic square kilometer area, we are one third of China, one third of America and maybe one fifth or one sixth of Brazil but we still are the second largest food grain, fruit and vegetable producer. I would say we have not reached the peak yet and the peak I believe will come after 7-8 years when balanced nutrition and safer pesticides along with some biological pesticides would be used. The real way to double the farmers’ income is not by simply increasing the price but we have to reduce their input cost and at the same time, they should improve their productivity per acre. This is the only way they can achieve better income.

I hear that there have been growing instances of duplicate agrochemical products in the market?

I will not say it is not at all there but the percentage is very small. Imagine with the same land area what you had 25 years ago when we were producing only 50-70 million tonnes of food grains, today we are producing 300 million tonnes which is five-six times more. This has been achieved despite the fact that the land area has reduced considerably. The myth that pesticides are dangerous is not correct. The real thing is that you have to use the quantity that is prescribed and the method of application and timing etc. Everything has to be kept in the mind. It’s like a medicine whose efficacy is only when we follow the doctor. It has to be used judiciously, with proper advice and in the right quantity. The overuse creates a lot of problems and farmers should understand that they must use protective clothing such as gloves, face masks and all that to stop the poisoning. Generally the poisoning doesn’t happen through the pesticides as these are diluted well. The 20 ml in 200 liters of water should not lead to toxicity or poisoning.

What is your take on the Pesticides Management Bill (PMB), 2020? What sort of amendments are you looking at to make it more supportive for industry and the farming community?

The Dr. Dalwai Committee has already recommended that if you want to increase the farmers’ income, you must support the formulation and encourage R&D for the domestic companies. You must create a competition rather than importing molecules that are 50-60 years old which is happening today. Because of this second fellow won’t get registration. The Indian market is not big enough to do a complete registration by an Indian company. The PMB should be designed in such a way that the Indian manufacturer is motivated to do more, the ease of business should be there. There is no Make in India provision and there is no provision that export should be promoted. The reason why export should be promoted is so that the same molecule or formulation becomes economical as the volumes will increase.

Is there going to be a paradigm shift in your approach post this AGM to bring the agrochemical industry to the fore?

We at CCFI want to work with both government and industry as they have to work hand in hand. They must help each other out in their own problems and the final aim of making India self-reliant by helping in the success of Make in India, Atma Nirbhar Bharat and other such programmes. Some of the shocks we have received in the last few years can be avoided in the future if we reduce our dependence on foreign countries.

How can we make India self-reliant in agrochemicals? What are your expectations from the government?

Any molecule which is 20 years old and whose patent has expired, is basically a proven molecule whose most of the parameters such as toxicity are known and so is its data related to risks and its origin. So it reduces the requirements during registrations. If all the dates are in the order, it reduces the time period by 6-12 months. Therefore, the temporary registration could be given and farmers start getting the benefits of the molecules immediately rather than waiting for 5-6 years for the same.

Are there any plans to enhance the membership of CCFI?

There is not much scope as all the large industries are our members. By large industries, I mean the Indian industries. The multi-nationals have their own agendas and thus have their own associations. They import a large amount of products and get them packaged to export back, earning a substantial amount of revenue returns that again goes back to their respective countries through foreign exchange. So, there is a double whammy here.

September 03, 2021

Farrokh Bhathena, Director - Sales & Marketing, KSB Limited India spoke exclusively to Pravin Prashant and Rahul Koul of Indian Chemical News on global market size and trends, India market size and trends, company's market share, orders bagged, company's performance, company's USP, R&D initiatives, Capex investment, and future business outlook. Excerpts of the interview: 

Global market size for pumps, valves and services in 2020 and market forecast for 2021? What are the Top 5 trends?   

The global centrifugal pump market is projected to reach a size of Rs. 356.62 trillion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.9%, from an estimated Rs. 267.51 trillion in 2021. And for valves for the year 2021, Global On/Off valve market size is Rs. 2.95 trillion. The top five growth markets that we see for pumps and valves are Oil & Gas Upstream and Downstream, Petrochemical, Chemical & Fertilizer, Standard Industrial segments like Pulp and Paper, Metals, Cement, Ethanol blending, Water and Wastewater, Agriculture, and Solar.   

India market size for pumps, valves and services in 2020 and market forecast for 2021? What are the Top 5 trends?   

The Indian pump market today is estimated at around Rs. 14,500 crores and is projected to grow at 7% CAGR with market share of agriculture at 27%, building segment at 19%, Water & Waste water management at 17%, Power generation at 12%, Oil and Gas at 8%, Metal and Mining at 4% and rest other industries about 13%. A similar trend is expected to be followed by the valves market. For the year 2021, the On/Off valve market size will be Rs. 8,600 crores.  

What is KSB Limited India market share in pumps, valves and services in India? How are you planning to increase your market share in India in pumps, valves and services?   

We are one of the dominant players in the market, and hold different market shares in the different segments in which we operate. We have undertaken various measures like improving product basket with introduction of new products, bringing more focus to the sectors like agriculture, solar, chemicals, water and waste water and digitalisation initiatives to improve our position in the various markets in which we are present. 

Key orders bagged during FY 2020-21 and what are the plans for FY 2021-22? New verticals where you are focusing and how it will impact the company? 

Some of the major orders received are for IOCL KGPL Project, IOCL Haldia Reactor Feed Pump Project, orders for various distillery projects from Excel Engineering, various paper industry projects, and orders like Andritz - UPM Taurus, Bangladesh Chemical and Fertilizer and Baltic Gas Chemical Complex Project. 

There is an increased focus in the Oil and Gas business for valves, with the new latest qualification for Oil & Gas (ISO 16848-1, API RP591, API 600 13th edition). Apart from this we have introduced new products like Butterfly Valves, Dual Plate Check Valves etc. to boost our product basket for valves. Also, we have been directing our focus on the chemicals industry, Pharma, and Life Science applications.  

Company's performance in terms of revenue and profit during FY 2020-21 and what is the forecast for FY 2021-22 and growth drivers?  

The business outlook remains positive despite COVID, we are expecting double digit growth year-on-year. Monsoon has made a positive impact in increasing the demand, various government policies are fuelling the growth for pumps at large, government efforts towards controlling the emission of SOx has paved the way for the rise in the demand for the pumps required for Flue Gas Desulphurisation application. The ban on Chinese suppliers/contractors in India has opened up opportunities for Indian suppliers. Smart city projects will create demand for the housing sector and also for water and waste water management in these cities. Ethanol blending would bring in good opportunities for sugar production companies and the ethanol business which previously was a by-product will now become a main-stream product for the sugar industry.  

To meet the government's target of 20 percent blending of gasoline, ethanol storage capacity of sugar companies needs to expand to three times the current level of about 300 crore litres. This will mean an investment of Rs. 41,000 crores. The shift from a coal based economy to gas based and renewable resources will bring in new opportunities in the sectors. 

 USP of your pumps and valves? What are new product offerings from KSB Limited India for the Chemical, Petrochemical, Oil & Gas and Pharmaceutical sector?  

The USP of our products is the reliable German design, German technology and proven hydraulics and the large reference base that KSB has in India due to its presence of more than 60 years in India. 

KSB Limited India offers the complete range of pumps for these markets in compliance with the latest edition of API 610. The products in KSB's range include the OH2 pumps, BB2 pumps, BB5 pumps, VS6, and VS1 pumps. KSB has also started manufacturing Axially split, multi-stage, between-bearings BB3 pumps from India. This pump type CHTRa finds applications in onshore and offshore production as an injection/re injection pump, in crude/refined products pipelines as a transfer pump, in refineries, petrochemical, chemical, gas and coal-to-gas/coal-to-chemical plants as a feed, process charge, process transfer, main wash pump as well as for boiler feed water pump applications.  

How does the scientific team ensure that pumps designed by it are of highest quality to withstand the harsh conditions during industrial applications? 

We adopt our designs from our parent company in Germany and as and when demanded localise the same to cater to the need. 

How have the company's R&D initiatives shaped its product basket with respect to lower maintenance and energy needs? 

As mentioned earlier our R&D activities are conducted by our parent company in Germany and the products are manufactured under license by KSB Ltd. These initiatives have led to the manufacturing of high efficiency and high reliability pump sets for the FGD market for the supercritical power plant market and the nuclear pumps market. KSB also has a design centre located in Pune called KSB Tech which provides design support. 

Capex invested in FY 2020-21 and what is the plan for FY 2021-22? What are the plans related to digitalization and automation in the pump and valves sector?   

Revenue for 2020 fell by 6.6% over 2019 mainly on account of the COVID-19 lockdown. This was due to complete lockdown for almost one month and partial lockdown during the rest of the year from May-December. Effectively almost around 20% time was lost, however the drop-in sales could be restricted to 6.6%. Profit before tax increased by 12.6%. This was driven by an improvement in margins and a reduction in fixed costs. In 2021, we hope to recover the lost revenues in 2020 and go over 2019 level. The Indian economy has been resilient during this COVID-19 period and is expected to continue the trend. Accordingly, all the market areas are forecasted to contribute towards this recovery.  

Capex for 2020 was Rs. 50.4 crore during 2021 and it will increase to around Rs. 85 crores. Major contributors to this increase are a new shed at our Sinner plant, Nuclear business-related Capex, automation and digitalization projects etc. 

Would you talk about a new energy plant in Shirwal and its utility for KSB India Limited? 

In 2017, our Energy Pumps Division at Shirwal was established. This is a planned extension of the Power Projects Division at Chinchwad where because of space constraints there was no scope for further expansion. This is a huge plant with a total area of 10,0000 square meter. 

This plant is equipped with a special aerodynamic roof for effective cooling as well as a special evaporative cooling system with HVLS fans for air circulation and to keep the shop pressurised. The plant has 1 MW rooftop solar installed for use of green energy and the plant is equipped with rain water harvesting for ground water recharge. 

Shop layouts are designed in such a way that they ensure linear flow of movement for material for each product line. We can handle packages up to 60 MT weight and 13-meter height. This plant can test pumps with power of 6 MW which can be extended up to 10 MW, if required. 

We also have separate shops for test beds where we can carry out tests such as hot water, thermal shock, NPSH, axial thrust measurement, etc. This testing is controlled and monitored from a remote cabin for advanced safety and all test parameters are monitored on PC with special pump test software which can also be used for virtual testing for clients. 

For our new pumps for FGD plants we have set up a special coating facility which needs controlled temperature and humidity environments. 

 For our Nuclear pumps production, we have installed a specialized machine for Hirth gear grinding which is required for PCP PUMP rotor. We have also installed state of the art machines for EDM and mechanical seal manufacturing. 

We also have a separate store facility for raw and finished parts. Automated shuttles like Kardex are installed for space saving and fast retrieval of material. Products produced at this plant are CHTD, CHTC/R, HG, HD A, WKT and pumps required for Flue Gas Desulphurisation and nuclear applications.

What is the future business outlook for KSB India during FY 2021-22? 

In 2020, despite COVID-19, KSB had an order intake of Rs. 1,300 crores and we are quite hopeful that with the improving situation we would improve and register a double-digit growth for the year. 

For the 1st half of 2021, we have achieved sales of Rs. 684 crores and we already have orders on hand for almost 7 to 8 months. Both the first wave and the second wave has had an effect on our business operations, however despite these challenging situations our employees have risen to the occasion and navigated the operations to deliver good results for the Company in 2020 and in the first half of 2021. 

The company is continuing to invest in new products, increase the manufacturing capacity, enhance the skills of the employees with learning and development as well as in the digitalisation. With measures on a drive for innovation, additions to product basket, a complete digitisation to improve our operational efficiency, market entry into new segments, KSB continues to focus on a profitable growth Strategy. Aftermarket area also looks positive as production ramping up will call for scheduled maintenance of equipment.  

About the exports business, currently around 18-19% of our business is contributed by exports and in the coming years we shall be focusing upon increasing the exports contribution.  

Company is focusing upon making conscious efforts to increase its ESG score. And as a step towards the same we have installed Solar panels on the rooftops on our plants for captive electricity consumption. We will be obtaining green building certification for our offices, undertaking measures to reduce our carbon footprint, hiring diverse employees, and also are focused on improving employee engagement. 

September 02, 2021

Drones to play a key role in agriculture sector, says Mr. Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India

August 20, 2021

Dr. Rafi Shaik, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Carbanio, India's first and largest chemical bazaar, spoke exclusively to Pravin Prashant and Rahul Koul of Indian Chemical News on Carbanio's business model, size of digital chemical business, market share, clients, future plans, revenue and profit numbers, use of AI, ML, and Big Data, future collaborations, future outlook, and others. Excerpts of the interview: 

What's the idea behind Carbanio? Please share Carbanio's business model and long-term objectives? 

The idea to establish a chemical sourcing platform like Carbanio dates back to my research days. Approximately two decades ago, I constantly faced challenges of getting the right purity and quality chemicals. Sometimes I was unable to get the chemicals from India; further, getting customized chemicals for research was not less than a nightmare. I always wondered, how can the sales network be so poor but I wanted to change the way people buy and sell chemicals.

A couple of years later, when digitization started booming in the other verticals, I decided to use this concept to change chemical procurement in India, that’s how Carbanio was established. Today, I can proudly say that Carbanio is India’s first and largest chemical bazaar which has helped industries and academia with hassle-free chemical sourcing solutions.

Our business model is simple. We follow an elaborate verification process for our sellers to be a part of Carbanio listing. Sellers can be anyone, from a manufacturer, supplier, and dealer. Our verification process is to check the authenticity of the seller and offer complete peace of mind to the buyers. Buyers on other hand can search for the chemical with their requirement of purity, quantity, location, etc., and place an order. Payments are accepted through secure online modes, where the money is released to the seller only after the buyer receives his consignments and is happy with the consignment. In case of any discrepancies like poor quality, purity, or other issues, the money is refunded back to the buyer. This way, we try to maintain trust with both the parties.

Talking about long-term objectives, we envision to create a strong digital, chemical sourcing network for easy and effortless chemical buying and selling.

What is the overall market size for online chemical business globally and in India? What are the key trends in online chemical business? 

The market size of the Indian chemical industry stands at US $180 billion this year, while the global market is a whopping US $5.3 trillion. The Indian chemical industry is expected to reach US $304 billion in 2025 growing at a CAGR of 9.4%. However, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic situation has increased the CAGR rates accounting to nearly 13-14% increase in the last one year. The key trends in the digital chemical business are data analytics, IoT (Internet of Things), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Incorporation of these latest technologies will improve the digital chemical business like never before.

What is your market share in India and how are you planning to increase your share? 

Currently, the total market share of digital chemical business is 18%, of which Carbanio contributes the maximum. The 18% include about six lakh chemical businesses which is expected to grow to 40% in the next three years. Our plans to increase the share remain simple; we believe in continuing the extraordinary services we are already offering, this will help us retain our existing clients and attract new ones, eventually helping us gain more market share.

Who are your major clients and the segments that they belong to? What's the share of clients in academia and industry respectively? 

Carbanio’s chemical sourcing helps diverse segments within the chemical industry; however, major clients include the pharmaceuticals and speciality chemical market. We source chemicals to both industrial clients and academia. Currently, the industrial clients contribute 70% of Carbanio’s overall client base, while academia is around 30%. This trend will slowly change with the increasing awareness of digitization in the Indian chemical industry.

From 200K product listings in 2018 to 7.2 million in 2020, Carbanio has come a long way. How was it made possible and what were the challenges you faced? What are your future plans for product listings?

The path was not easy. Since this was a new, modern concept in the conventionally operating chemical industry, we had to create awareness, build trust, and convince the sellers/buyers to try out this amazing platform. We were not making alternations in any of their operational processes. We were just incorporating technology in the traditional business to make the procurement process easy, allowing organizations to focus on their business rather than wasting time in looking for the right supplier.

Our future plan is to digitize all the chemical clusters in India. There are currently 178 chemical clusters, of which we haven't touched even half of it. We are determined to make the procurement process easy for sellers and buyers across all the clusters.

Carbanio's overall revenue and profit performance during FY 2020-21 and expected revenue and profit in FY 2021-22? What will be the key drivers for this growth?

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the need for digitization in today's world. Hence, the profit performance margin was going extremely good in the FY 2020-2021. We are expecting a revenue boost of 78 times in FY 2021-22. Our key drivers to growth include onboarding a large number of manufacturers and suppliers on the Carbanio platform.

What sets you apart from your competitors in terms of unique offerings and user experience? How do you plan to make it completely hassle-free?

Our key strength is offering a trustworthy service to our clients. Though we are a new-age solution platform, we still acquire and run on the old-school concepts of trust and quality. We have so far not had even a single client who was disappointed by our services. In case of any conflict between the buyer and seller, we make sure to resolve the issue by refunding the money back to the seller, we usually keep the seller's payment on hold until they receive the consignment and are completely satisfied. 

To answer your question of completely offering hassle-free service, I would take pride in announcing that Carbanio is already a hassle-free chemical platform. This is the simplest, effortless, and effective chemical sourcing platform you can ever come across.

How easy is it for chemical sellers to enlist themselves on Carbanio? What benefits do you provide to sellers for their businesses?

To get enlisted in Carbanio is very simple. All you have to do is get a detailed verification done by our team, and once the authenticity is proved, you are on our list. Sellers have the privilege to expand new marketing/sales channels, reach more buyers, showcase their newly formulated products, sell their regular products, and a lot more.

Why should chemical buyers visit Carbanio? What sourcing benefits are being offered currently? Are there any special offerings for researchers and start-ups?

Chemical buyers should not miss on Carbanio; this is a unique platform that caters the needs of chemical buyers. The company has  tried to address all the issues and offer a buyer-centric solution. With Carbanio one can benefit by checking the availability of the chemicals in real-time, buy only from verified sellers, discover prices and compare them in real-time, look for customized chemicals for R&D needs, make secure payments, and finally expect delivery on time.

We don't have any special offerings for startups as such; however, for researchers, we encourage industries to provide chemicals for free or discounted rates to the research institutions. This helps in strengthening our country's efforts on the innovation front.

What has been the outcome of your collaboration with CSIR-IICT? Any new partnerships in the pipeline which will help Carbanio?

Collaboration with CSIR-IICT was a historic moment for Carbanio. We not just sourced chemicals for CSIR-IICT's research for the COVID-19 vaccine during the lockdown but also created an awareness among the fraternity as to how important digitization is in today's world.

Yes, we have a few partnerships in the pipeline with esteemed institutions like National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and IISER Berhampur, among others.

Any plans for using the new-age digital tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Leadings (ML) and others in the near future? How will these new technologies help Carbanio?

As we are a digitally operating business, keeping ourselves updated to the new-age digital tools like AI, ML, and Big Data is important to offer a seamless customer experience. We are already working on integrating these trends, you will soon see them go live. These technologies will help us constantly improve our services to help our customers better. 

What is your future outlook for the online chemical business globally and in India?

The future of chemical business in India and the world looks quite promising. As we have already seen the importance of digital business during the pandemic, it has created a revolution. There is no looking back. The current and future trend is going to be digitization, hence, the chemical industry cannot be left behind. The Indian and global chemical market will soon shift to digital platforms for chemical procurement; this trend will strengthen the chemical industry and help them evolve.

August 19, 2021

It was a momentous occasion for Meghmani Finechem Limited yesterday as the company got listed both at BSE and NSE. The company is set to become India’s first manufacturer of Epichlorohydrin (ECH), so far imported entirely for domestic consumption. The company is also setting up a Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) manufacturing plant in India.   

Despite his busy schedule, Maulik Patel, Chairman & Managing Director, Meghmani Finechem Limited spoke exclusively to Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News about the company's revenue target of Rs. 2,000 crore by FY2024, profitability numbers, mega expansion plans, capex plans, plant automation, achieving net carbon zero, and others. Excerpts of the interview: 

Meghmani Finechem is looking at expanding the caustic soda plant and is planning new facilities for epichlorohydrin and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride? What's your expansion plans?  

As per our big capex plan, we have just completed the commissioning of products like caustic soda, hydrogen peroxide and captive power plant in the last financial year. In this financial year, we are going to get the result of all the capex invested in the last few years. The epichlorohydrin project with capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum, will be manufactured for the first time in India, was initiated in the last fiscal and is going to be completed in the first quarter of FY23. It is a basic building block of epoxy resin. With regard to CPVC, we have also started the capex from the second half of last fiscal and it is going to get completed by the second quarter of FY23.  

Both the capex plans are on the stream and even though after the second wave, we faced manpower shortage and we have managed to cover all such delays in the last 3-4 months. Therefore, the commissioning of both ECH and CPVC are on time in the first and second quarters of FY23 respectively. 

Capex breakup with respect to caustic soda, ECH, and CPVC?  

In the last phase of caustic soda expansion, we have done the majority of the things required for Chlor-Alkali and the captive power plant. So we are doing only Rs. 250 crore capex for the chlor-alkali for the power plant expansion for plants with 300 TPD capacity. For ECH, we are doing Rs. 275 crore capex for expansion upto 50,000 tonnes capacity plant and we are investing Rs. 190 crore capex on the 30,000 tonnes capacity plant of CPVC.  

You seem to be staggering your capex for the next three years - FY 21, FY 22, and FY23. Can you give a Capex breakup for three years?  

As I mentioned, we are moving from just chlor-alkali to the derivatives segment. As a result, the first phase of expansion of caustic soda, captive power plant and hydrogen peroxide was completed last fiscal. So, we are going to get full results in the current fiscal and the results of ECH and CPVC in the next fiscal. As far as capex is concerned, we have spent Rs. 150 crore in the last fiscal on our three projects. We are going to spend Rs. 350 crore in the current fiscal and Rs. 100 crore in the next financial year. 

In the next three years, Meghmani Finechem is planning to increase its revenue from Rs. 829 crore to Rs. 2,000 crore. How easy or difficult this challenge would be and revenue breakup with respect to caustic soda, ECH, and CPVC in FY24?  

As a part of our long-term vision, we decided in 2019 to work towards achieving Rs. 2,000 crore revenue by FY24. Because of the great team effort, we are hopeful to achieve the revenue target probably a little early and that is our aim. Currently, 70% is coming from chlor-alkali and the remaining 30% from derivatives of chloromethanes and hydrogen peroxide. In the current financial year, the share of Derivatives is likely to increase to 35% and 65% share will remain for chlor-alkali.  

In the coming years, it will be more than 50% from the derivatives segment as ECH and CPVC will start commissioning and generating revenue. Less than 50% will be from chlor-alkali itself. 

In FY24, will it be equal revenue share for ECH and CPVC or will it be different?  

ECH will be the number one contributor in the derivatives segment but at the same time, the exact bifurcations keep changing in the derivatives because of the dynamic raw material scenario. It is difficult to predict the exact revenue but a major chunk is going to be from ECH among all derivatives. 

What about the profitability numbers in FY24?  

Going by our track record, we were able to maintain profitability irrespective of whether we had started the derivatives or not. Even in the chlor-alkali segment itself, our profitability is going to be 28-30%. Down the line, even if we reach the Rs. 2000 crore topline, we will certainly be able to sustain the kind of profitability in chloro-alkali as well as the derivatives segment together. 

Both ECH and CPVC will be manufactured for the first time in India. Being the first to manufacture these two products in India, how does it feel?  

It feels great that as a domestic manufacturer, we are moving towards achieving the dream of our Prime Minister, which is Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India. ECH will be the first of its kind manufacturing in India for the 50,000 tonnes plant and that will reduce the import bill. For CPVC, the market is huge, around 135 KTPA per annum and only 10,000 tonnes manufacturing capacity in India. We are coming with 30,000 tonnes and it is the second manufacturing plant in India. I think till there is a huge demand-supply gap in all the products, there is always an opportunity. And the way India is growing, infrastructure, automobile, renewable energy, and composites industry segments are growing, the demand for ECH and CPVC will register double digit growth in the coming years. 

Which sector will benefit most from these derivatives - ECH and CPVC? Are you also looking at the export market?  

Currently, our focus is only on the domestic market and in case it is required we will take a call based on realization of price in the future. It will be 80:20 ratio, out of which 80% will be for domestic and 20% for export.  

How are you moving towards automated plants?  

At Meghmani, whatever we are manufacturing are all continuous plants, starting from chloro-alkali to captive power plant and chloromethane to hydrogen peroxide and now two new product lines that we are coming with. We are going for 100% automation irrespective of the quantity. We believe that in the coming times there will be less manpower required for certain operations and automation will be better for the quality of the product itself. 

Wouldn't complete automation lead to an increase in capex?  

Initially, we were going for an 80:20 kind of arrangement where it would be automation for 80% of higher volume products and manual for the remaining 20% small volume ones. However, now we are going for fully automated ones and yes, we are well aware about the increase in the cost. We believe that given the increasing cost and dependency on manpower and the situation like COVID-19, it is better for productivity of plants in coming times. 

With respect to ECH with 100% renewable energy, are you going for the same for caustic soda and others?  

As of now we don't have plans for renewable energy as we are waiting for the policies in this direction. However, as we are dependent on electricity power, we would like to go for green sources of energy. In ECH, our technology is based on glycerine as a feedstock, which is completely a renewable source as it comes from a byproduct of a biodiesel plant. Therefore, we are reducing the carbon footprint in India as compared to western companies that normally use Propylene.  

Are you looking at achieving net carbon zero in the coming times? 

Currently, for the next 2-3 years, we don't have a plan but like every other company, we too are determined to go completely renewable in the near future. While we don’t have it in our strategy right now, we will start investing in it during the coming times.