Indian chemicals and petrochemicals sector is progressing at a steady pace, and that the sector will be a major contributor in realizing the goal of making India a 5 trillion-dollar economy, Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba at a promotional event for India Chem 2022 in Mumbai yesterday.

India Chemi is jointly organized by the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India and industry chamber FICCI. The event is scheduled to be held during November 2 - 3, 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

The Minister assured the industry that the Department is working tirelessly to address the issues of the industry, to boost the growth of the chemicals and petrochemicals sector. “We have started the process of addressing various issues involving other Ministries such as the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Environment. The department wants to institutionalize the process to conduct regular meetings by involving all the stakeholders to address the major issues of the industry. Enabling frameworks, providing proper infrastructure and trade related issues are among the major focus points of the Department.”

The Minister informed that as India aspires to become a global manufacturing hub for chemicals & petrochemicals, the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals intends to bring PLI for the sector. The Government is planning to redraft Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) policy guidelines; “We have requested the industry to share their viewpoints so that the same can be fine-tuned further”, added the Minister.

Khuba said, PLI scheme in key end-use sectors is driving growth in the Chemicals and Petro-chemicals sector. “India has a huge demand for chemical and petrochemical products. Through Production Linked Incentive schemes with an incentive outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore, Government of India has recently given a thrust to promote key end-use sectors such as pharmaceuticals, telecommunication & networking equipment, automobiles, electronics, mobiles, medical devices and textiles. This will further drive the demand for chemicals and petrochemicals in the country. The tremendous growth in demand coupled with rationalization of customs duty will attract large scale investment in the sector. This additional production will support the entire chemical value chain in a big way. Starting from the raw materials to the finished goods, every single component in the value chain will see growth.”

He pointed out that the shifts of supply chain, rising sense of nationalism, accelerating commoditization, business integration and the rapid changes in the chemical industry are trends that have changed the industry dramatically. The Minister said that initiatives such as Joint Ventures and Mergers & Acquisitions will help us to bring the latest technology and sustainable solutions in the domestic market. “The vision of our Prime Minister for ‘Make in India’, and the steps in this direction will help the Indian economy to grow.” 

Susanta Kumar Purohit, Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers gave a presentation on the India Chem 2022 and growth prospects of India’s Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industry. With strong growth drivers, this sector is set to grow faster than the global chemicals and petrochemicals industry, he stated. 100% FDI is permitted through automatic route in Petrochemicals sector, informed the Joint Secretary. An Industry Facilitation Cell has been set up in the Department in April, 2022.Over 50 industry issues have been taken up and resolved till date, he added.

Deepak Mehta, Chairperson, FICCI Chemical Committee said that the high cost of manufacturing in Europe provides India a big opportunity. Moreover, many countries are looking at India as an alternate location to China, for procuring chemicals, he said. “The Government of India has been very supportive and active in changing the industry ecosystem in India. The PLI scheme is helping to reduce our dependence on imports from China. The Government has been aggressively supporting other sectors such as the electronics and semiconductor sector, giving India a great potential to grow, especially for chemicals which support these sectors.” He added that the PLI scheme is an excellent scheme, which promotes indigenization; hence, not only the companies which avail the scheme, but also other companies which supply materials to these companies too benefit, due to the thrust on indigenization.

Rajendra Gogri, Co-chair, FICCI Chemical Committee informed the audience that the theme for India Chem 2022 is Vision 2030 for Chemicals and Petrochemicals Sector. He said that the sector has a huge import substitution opportunity and this decade can be a golden one for the sector.