Leading experts from the chemical industry who spoke at the inaugural session of “ChemConnect 2022”, the first edition of Logistics and Supply Chain Event organized by Indian Chemical News, are unanimous on the urgent strengthening of the logistics infrastructure. 

“Chemical Logistics: Policy, Infrastructure Gap, and Opportunity”, the session at The Lalit, Mumbai on September 21, 2022, was moderated Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News.

“Whenever there is an accident that involves chemicals, the people immediately call for the banning of industry without the realization that these are an integral part of our life. Rather than such reactions, there is a need to demand and implement enough safety measures. Storage and transportation aspects of chemical logistics are very important. The quantity will decide the severity of each chemical and hence the factors such as distance between the tankers or trucks and warehouses do matter,” said Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) G. D. Yadav, Emeritus Professor of Eminence, Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai.

“Why should a driver who has no cultural or language background besides the scientific knowledge drive to far off lands? We must ensure that a driver comes back home soon as that will help in fixing the social problems and safety issues. National logistics policy must include measures to address such issues. There should have been a national chemical safety board like the USA which could monitor the accidents and issue guidelines to prevent these. Online tracking of the transportation process by using artificial intelligence and machine learning can help in bringing efficiency into the system. Simulations will help in creating better checks and balances. Going forward, chemical safety and risk management is going to be a big business in chemical logistics,” added Prof. Yadav.

“JNPT handles 56 lakh containers each year. Here we have both chemical and liquid cargoes being handled. The capacity of berths at JNPT is 20,000 tonnes in a single parcel. Often the smaller vehicles come with a package of 4,000-7,000 tonnes in a single parcel. We have come up with a common user facility concept where a corridor will be provided to the common users up to a point and from there each of them can tap the pipeline. Since the turnaround time of vehicles is a huge factor, we feel that sometimes due to the queue at the existing berths, LB 1 and LB 2 at JNPT, there is an increase in the same. Therefore, we are coming up with two more berths, LB 3 and LB 4, commissioned by May 2023. It will add a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes to current 7. 2 million tonnes, increasing it to 11.7 million tonnes. This will help in reducing the waiting time and the arriving vessels would get the berth on the same day,” said Girish Thomas, Chief Manager Traffic, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

“We ensure the best services by improving the facilities such as liquid jetties, berths and much more. We plan to start a new concept of dry ports in Vardha and Jalna where we drop off the cargo and no need to go to the actual port. Then we have the facility of direct port entry where the cargo can be checked in from the factory premises. We have scanners and laboratories to help in the process. Digitization is another area where we have implemented new initiatives. We have started a 277-hectare Special Economic Zone in the port area where 26 clients have already taken the space in the free trade zone,” added Thomas.

“The market is growing and it will not just benefit the chemical manufacturers but all the allied industries. Be it the logistics service providers, technology service providers and warehouse service providers, transporters, there is enough on plate for all of us. We announced the policy in India, the aspirational goal is that we want to bring down the logistics cost from 14% of the GDP to 8% which is the global benchmark. However, the change today is that even today almost 70% of freight travels on the road. Unless this is not addressed drastically, it would be difficult to achieve the target,” said Ravikumar Nair, Senior Vice President – Logistics, Petrochemical Business, Reliance Industries.”

There is no regulation with respect to transportation of chemicals in India. We need a single authority for chemical logistics issues. We have witnessed the announcement of PM-Gati Shakti for infrastructure development such as DFCs, multi-modal parks and the sagarmala project. These are good but reality will bite us when we start implementing at the ground level. Government has announced 35 multi-modal parks and five of them are being implemented immediately. While the first one is coming up in Chennai, others will take the shape soon. Vahan portal for vehicle details and Saarthi portal for licence information. For railways, there is FOIS and all these will be integrated on the ULIP portal. I feel that logistics are still neglected. There are 1,75000 deaths happening per year on Indian roads. The common minimum standards have to be maintained. The largest OEMs in the transportation business have trucks with no cabins or no seats for the attendants. The servicing is done on the roadside with contaminated water being drained into rivers. Each and every aspect of safety will attract a lot of growth,” added Nair.

“We don’t have to just look at the efficient logistics but efficient logistic as well. If you look at the goods manufacturers within SMEs, there is no dedicated team in their SCM. Most of the time, the management is aware only about the origin and destination of the material but are seldom bothered about the transportation medium or its details. That is why there is a need for a dedicated team to handle logistics. The kind of tankers and trucks that come to factories for transportation must be inspected thoroughly before being allowed to load the material. The standing time of trucks at the factory is important from cost as well as safety perspective. The training of drivers and their better working conditions as well as their wellbeing along the route is the responsibility of transporters,” said Shekhar Khanolkar, Independent Business Advisor.

“Automation of transportation, tracking software, improvements in vehicles needs to be addressed. The storage facilities and warehouses have to be secured properly. The use of waterways and ports has to be improved. Enough infrastructure alongside the roads for truckers has to be ensured.  The transportation of chemicals through pipelines is an area that has been often ignored because of lack of motivation among the companies. That is because of a lack of appropriate policies on the part of the government. All the stakeholders must come together to improve the efficiency of the supply chain rather than looking at it individually,” added Khanolkar.

“The system to comply with the UK REACH is that you have to do the downstream user notification. There are few categories that don’t fit into the notification and may have to go for the other routes.  In Turkey, the common deadline is 2023 and Indian companies have done pre-registration to ensure that business remains. But they need to register before the deadline to continue with the business.  Korea REACH has a deadline as per tonnage band. The European REACH where it all started, the green deal is happening, substances are being categorized as high risk and alternatives are being found due to their impact on human health. While the big enterprises have their own regulatory set up in them segment, the small and medium companies don’t enjoy such a facility. The gaps at the company level need to be fulfilled by allocating a dedicated person for compliance. We have an experience based tool for that to keep a track of the regulatory requirements,” said Dr. Jayachandran Nair, Chief Executive Officer, GPC

“We are mostly into business, production and sales but this small segment of logistics is often paid less attention and comes into picture when we receive the orders. It would be great if we pay our attention and fill the infrastructure gaps. There are three basic pillars. Buyers, suppliers and downstream users. Suppliers aren’t sure what information to provide and for that we offer a portal that can help in issuing the certifications and helping a proper navigation through the supply chain. We also help with the audit requirements. The entire infrastructure gap can be filled through our comprehensive tool,” Dr Nair added.

In his comments Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News stated: “The global chemical logistics market is valued at over US $265 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow over US $371 billion by 2030 growing at a CAGR of 4%. Limitations in rail and road transportation, port specific challenges, lag in multi-mode connectivity to and from industrial complexes, and other such factors cannot just drag down productivity but also impact quality and competitiveness of Indian chemical products globally. It can be overcome through complete digitization by the companies, enabling green logistics, employee training with bottom up approach, adhering to regulatory compliance, ramping up infrastructure and increased innovation. If we implement these, it will help in enhancing brand India image and creating value for all stakeholders.”

The conference, themed as ‘Creating a Robust Ecosystem’, lined up the country’s top industry captains for the most comprehensive dialogue on the logistics in chemical industry. The event was supported by Netradyne as the platinum partner. The gold partners were Carbanio, Moglix, and DriveBuddy AI. The regulatory knowledge partner was GPC, and tech partner was Ezbiz Technologies. The media partner of the event was Indian Pharma Post.