The Indian petrochemical industry, a critical driver of economic growth, plays a pivotal role in supplying raw materials for diverse sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, and construction. However, its rapid expansion also brings significant environmental and social challenges. The need to align government policies, regulatory frameworks, and global sustainability standards is paramount for the industry to achieve sustainable growth and maintain its global competitiveness. 

In this context, the leading experts spoke at the second edition of PetroChem Summit 2024 at the inaugural session ‘Government Policies, Regulatory Framework and Global Sustainability Standards’ organized by the Indian Chemical News in New Delhi on December 18, 2024. 

In his inaugural speech, Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University said, “The definitions of sustainability are increasingly changing globally and the Indian petrochemical industry has been focusing on advanced materials and specialty chemicals. It is important that Indian stakeholders understand the international sustainability standards such as ISO-14 and global reporting initiatives as there are a lot of conflicts happening around the implementation. Most of the industries are aiming to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and there are goals set for petrochemicals as well. When it comes to regulations and compliance, there are regional regulatory frameworks such as the European Union’s REACH regulation and US-EPA. In terms of carbon management and net zero chemicals, it is very important to understand the industry’s contribution to global carbon emissions. There are a lot of developments in basic chemistry and advanced bioplastics, agro based and bio based products. Even in the biomedical area, polymers play a key role. At our university, we have established a chair for green chemistry and sustainability. There are many clusters and academic institutes working in these areas." 

"When it comes to academics, we need training courses and orientation training by industry. We have to train engineers with diplomas and postgraduate degrees. As per the new education policy, 40% of the faculty for technology related subjects should be from industry. In the petrochemical industry there is no dearth of resources and there must be good interactions with the industry experts. Balancing sustainability and economic growth is a major challenge and we have to adhere to global standardization. We have to shift towards bio based and renewable chemicals. The industry-academia collaborations and public private partnerships are very important," added Prof. Pillai. 

Deepak Mishra, Joint Secretary - Petrochemicals, DCPC, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India said, “The petrochemical sector has faced many challenges but these are short-lived and will be overcome soon. We believe that the growth of the sector is highly promising. There has been a shortfall for petrochemicals and when we projected the demand up to 2040, we listed the need for one cracker each year at an investment of up to Rs 40,000 crore. In total, there is a need for eleven crackers each year as of now. Many new projects have been launched and there are many more in the pipeline. With growing demand, we are at the fourth position globally and we will reach third spot in the next decade. While we are the third largest consumers of petrochemicals, the per capita consumption is lesser in India. There is no doubt that with a growing economy, we will see the increasing demand for plastics.” 

Mishra added further: “From government side, it is a deregulated industry. Anybody can start the plant and no permits are required for import or export except environmental regulations. In the coming years, more regulations will come in form of product designs, better quality, promoting more recycling of end of the life products. Making our chemicals safer and with bio-based feedstock in the coming five years. Industry must prepare for the transition and we are facilitating it. We work closely with industry and help in solving the issues faced by it.” 

"The challenges in the petrochemical industry can be converted into opportunities," said Dhananjay Sahoo, Chief General Manager - Petrochemical, IOCL, “There was a chorus to ban Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) but we argued in its favour citing its usefulness. There are a lot of negative connotations and we need to work closely with the government to do justice to the right products. New policies have been formulated and PCPR policy as well as incentives by the government are a few examples. There are many opportunities in specialty chemicals. Similarly in agrochemical or KSM for pharma API, the government has come up with the PLI scheme. The streams required for these industries are Ethylene Oxide, Benzene and Toluene. Indian Oil will come up with 50 KTA Toluene at its Paradip plant which will be available early next year.  It can be converted into the KSM for many pharma products. There is also growing focus on moving away from Chemical of Concern such as phthalate. Those who are producing polypropylene using phthalate as catalyst are now moving away to alternatives such as Succinate or Di-Ether and also to BPA free and HCN derivatives.” 

“The feed-stock is going to be available in surplus by 2035 or beyond because oil consumption is not plateaued out. Aromatic Naphtha is going to be available in plenty and we can use it. At Indian Oil, we have envisaged in a small way the cluster based approach where 6-7 units can come up in a land space. We plan to use it in an effective way and bring down Capex by 50%.  At Paradip, Indian Oil is the anchor tenant and we have a huge land parcel and the government is giving incentives such as waivers on electricity, 30% tax rebate on equipment and machinery to those who are interested in setting up units. While Dahej SEZ with 3-40 companies has many good offerings but at Paradip, the government is setting up CETP Chemically (Enhanced Primary Treatment),” added Sahoo. 

Ajay Sardana, President  & Head – Strategy and Business Development – Polyester Business, RIL opined, “The growth in petrochemicals has a direct correlation with the country’s GDP growth. We have seen that if the GDP grows by 6-7 %, the petrochemical industry grows by double digits at 10-11%. With a lot of opportunity in specialty chemicals, especially in carbon fibre, Reliance Industries is putting up a carbon fibre plant in Baroda, Gujarat under PLI scheme. We are producing many specialty chemicals and have a bouquet of products. We have huge faith in the growth of this industry and have therefore announced expansion plans in the products such as PTA, polyester, PVC, PPP which are the backbone of the chemicals and petrochemical industry." 

“The need of the hour is implementation of Quality Control Order (QCO). The industry is expecting the implementation of Polypropylene QCO in December and PVC QCO is in the pipeline. PET needs to be sent to the WTO. With a level playing field, Indian entrepreneurs will invest and grow fast. The duties in the budget need to be addressed as India offers just 5% to 7% duty protection compared to countries such as Brazil that has increased the duty protection from 12.4% to 24% There is no doubt that we will be growing fast. With huge over capacity in China, there is a need for such measures. We are in the right sector at the right time and we will certainly take India’s growth story forward," added Sardana. 

Nipun Kapila, Head - Sales & Marketing, Payal Group, “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are sacred to sustainability as is a periodic table to a chemist. I am adding two more words, Recover and Responsibility to it. Recover is to ensure that nothing goes to waste. Responsibility means being sustainable as a survival strategy for the chemical industry. Embracing sustainability is no longer an option but an imperative. The global chemical industry contributes to over 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, making it essential for us to balance progress with preservation. With this circularity is gaining momentum. By 2030, it is projected that about 40% of plastic will come from either recycled or bio-based sources. Another area is transition to green energy. The development of bio based chemicals is expected to grow at 10% by 2034. These are not just environmentally friendly but economically prudent.” 

"Our industry must integrate the green initiatives and adoption of predictive analytics. Technology has to be an enabler for our global aspirations. At Payal group, we are focusing on phthalate free products. We have soybean and sunflower oil based plasticizers and are working towards more bio based plasticizers.  We are also running our zero discharge plan also. In terms of policy initiatives, the PCPIR model, green hydrogen mission and investment in CCFU are paving the way forward for sustainability. Let’s be the generation not to leave the mess for upcoming ones to clean up. As innovators, leaders and policymakers, it is the time to turn chemistry into a force for good," added Kapila. 

PetroChem Summit 2024 themed ‘Identifying New Opportunities For Value Creation’ was supported by the industry associations including Alkali Manufacturers Association Of India (AMAI) and Chemicals & Petrochemicals Manufacturers' Association (CPMA). The Platinum Sponsor of the event was Somaiya Vidyavihar University and Gold Sponsor was Tubacex Group.