Page 130 - CW E-Magazine (4-2-2025)

Point of View
FOR YOUR COMPETITIVE AND DIRECT IMPORTS FROM OUR ACCREDITED OVERSEAS
MANUFACTURERS FOR THE ITEMS AS UNDER:-
One has only to look to a peripheral industry – pharmaceuticals – which seems to have no problem finding the skillsets it needs – be they
doctorates in chemistry or graduate chemical engineers, to envisage the possibilities here in the classical chemical industry. Key to talent (E)-2-Butenoyl Chloride Crotonic Anhydride Nonanoyl Chloride
acquisition and retention is to reward better – financially and through the offering of career growth options. 1,6-Dibromo Hexane Cyanamide Octanal
1-Bromo-3-Chloropropane Cyanuric Chloride Octanoic Acid
A safer, not just larger, industry 1-Propanephosphonic Acid Cyclic Cyclohexene O-Cyclohexylphenol HP
Orthophthalodinitrile
Decanal
Anhydride
While India will need a chemical industry that is four times its present size in another 20 years or so, it cannot afford to have 4x the problems 2,4-Dichlorotoluene Decanoic Acid Para Chloro Benzaldehyde
that exists. Improving the safety profile of the industry will be paramount. While the leading chemical companies – say the top-100 – have put in 2,4-Dichlorobutyrophenone Dicyandiamide Para Chloro Benzotrichloride
place the technical and human resources to ensure safe and reliable operations there are glaring gaps in a vast swathe of the industry that need 2-Chloro-1,1,1-trimethoxyethane Diisopropyl Ether P-Cyclohexylphenol
to be tackled. Given India’s fragmented chemical industry, this is a formidable challenge that will take collective effort – by individual companies, 2-Chloroacetoacetic Acid Ethyl Dimethyl Sulfate Phenothiazine
industry associations, and policy makers. Ester Dimethyl Sulfi te Polyglyceryl-10-Caprylate
2-Chloroacetyl Chloride Dodecanal HP Polyglyceryl-10-Laurate
2-Chloropropionyl Chloride Fumaroyl Chloride Polyglyceryl-10-Oleate
In most small businesses, there are no dedicated Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) personnel, and regular training is not imparted to 2-Ethyl Hexyl Bromide Glycolic Acid Polyglyceryl-4-Laurate
operators and supervisors on hazardous operations. In many, operations are managed by unskilled or semi-skilled persons or persons with limited 2-Ethylhexanoyl Chloride Guanidine Carbonate Polyglyceryl-4-Oleate
technical knowledge. Outsourcing critical operations to third-party contractors is not uncommon and adds another dimension to the problem. 2-Methoxyethyl Chloride Guanidine HCL Potassium Bromide
These limitations need to be overcome through appropriate policy interventions, fiscal support by financial institutions to aid modernisation, and 2-Methyl-5-Ethylpyridine Guanidine Thiocyanate Potassium Carbonate
hand-holding, especially by larger units that have much to share by way of technical knowhow. In many industries, lack of financial resources 3-Chloropropionyl Chloride Hexanal Potassium Hydroxide
Hydrochloric Acid
4-Aminobenzonitrile
Propionyl Chloride
is not the primary hurdle. Much progress towards inculcating a culture of safety (process and behavioural) can be achieved by rephrasing the 4-Bromobenzonitrile Hydrogen Chloride Sodium Acetate Solution
challenge and making out the business case to invest in safety. In other words, the proposition needs to switch from discussing the cost of 4-tert-Butylbenzene Sulfonamide Hydroxyacetone HP Sodium Acetate Trihydrate
safety and incidents to discussing the value of safety-focus on business. 5-Bromo-Valeric Acid Isobutyryl Chloride Sodium Hydrogen Sulfi te
5-Methyl-2-Pyridine Sulfonamide Isopropyl Acetate Sodium Hypochlorite
Clear zoning of chemical industry Acetic Acid Isopropyl Bromide Sodium Trichloroacetate
Sulfuric Acid
Malononitrile
Acetyl Chloride
While the chemical industry must be held accountable to do all that is practically feasible to improve its safety record, the fact remains that it will Ammonium Acetate Methyl Crotonate Sulfuryl Chloride
remain a hazardous one. While the industry first came up distant from population clusters in Maharashtra and Gujarat, that changed gradually and Ammonium Bromide Methyl Trichloroacetate Trichloroacetic Acid Pharma
hemmed the industry, seriously amplifying risks. It is vital that India’s policy makers find suitable homes for chemicals manufacture, preferably in coastal Chloroacetamide Monochloroacetic Acid Grade
areas for logistical and operational reasons, besides safety. State industrial development corporations and municipal bodies must ensure sanctity of Chloromethyl Acetate N-Decyl Bromide Trichloroacetyl Chloride
this allotted space and prevent encroachments. Chloromethyl Isobutyrate N-Heptane Triethyl Silane
Chlorosulfonic Acid N-Hexane Undecanal
Crotonic Acid N-Hexyl Bromide Valeroyl Chloride
If the growth India needs does not happen in planned clusters there will be high price to pay in terms of impacts on the environment, safety, and
competitiveness. The good news is that there is cognisance in government both of the need for such ‘chemical parks’ and the mistakes made in earlier
attempts. While there are fewer contenders to set one up today, with the right policy interventions and fiscal support a few can be operationalised PLEASE CONTACT WITH YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
in the next three years. The commercial benefits that will stem from the sharing of resources and infrastructure will make up for at least some of the
deficiencies that comes with manufacturing in India (high financial costs, high energy prices, etc.). CHEMET
A PLI scheme will help
A Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for chemicals, as introduced for several other industry segments (e.g., pharmaceuticals and some
of their raw materials), will go some way in spurring investments by improving competitiveness in the early years of a project when it can be most HEAD OFFICE : Span Centre, 2nd Floor, Ramakrishana Mission Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai - 400 054, INDIA.
vulnerable. This can be focused on speciality chemicals in which there is a high single country import dependence and for petrochemicals imported Tel : +91-22-66802222 / 26045601 E-Mail : info@chemetindia.com Website: www.chemetindia.com
in high volumes. As encouragement to innovation, there is merit in introduction of a ‘First in India’ scheme, with, say, support to the extent of 5%
of sales for the first two manufacturers to develop indigenous technology for ‘new’ products. BRANCH OFFICES
AHMEDABAD OFFICE : 1101, Safal Prelude, HYDERABAD OFFICE : Flat No. 104, K1 Primo,
While sops will be welcomed by the industry, they are temporary, and new projects will have to eventually face the harsh winds of competition. Corporate Road, Nr.Prahladnagar Garden, Kondapur X Roads, Hanuman Nagar, Kondapur,
They will be able to do so, provided their fundamentals are right. Anandnagar, Ahmedabad - 380 015, INDIA. Hyderabad-500 084, Telangana, INDIA.
Growth – a given; manufacturing will take a lot of doing Tel : +91-79-40370725 Tel : +91-40-4856 5970 / 71
In summary, growth in chemical demand in India is a given. One may quibble about the growth rates (and they do matter), but one cannot go E-Mail : chemetahmedabad@chemetindia.com E-Mail : chemethyderabad@chemetindia.com
wrong by pegging it a tad above GDP growth rates. The aim should be to fulfil as much of this incremental demand with indigenous production, not NEW DELHI OFFICE : 214, Hans Bhavan,
imports, as has been the case for the last several years. Wing No.1, Bahadurshah Zafer Marg, KOLKATA OFFICE : Sharma House, 3rd Floor, 1/2, Lord
New Delhi - 110 002, INDIA. Sinha Road, Kolkata - 700 071, INDIA.
While the notion of self-reliance is a noble one, the realities of commerce in a globalised world cannot be dismissed. The advantage that comes
from access to cheap feedstock (which, in most cases, are still petroleum based), and by building world-scale plants are considerable, and cannot Tel : +91-11-45751865 Tel : +91-33-22827247 / 22826511
be wished away. The worst mistake India’s planners can repeat is to support inappropriately sized, and poorly competitive plants for commodity E-Mail : chemetdelhi@chemetindia.com E-Mail : chemetkolkata@chemetindia.com
chemicals that will be cobbled right from day one and constantly need artificial barriers (tariff and non-tariff) to stay in business. Besides being CHENNAI OFFICE : 8-J, Century Plaza, 560-562,
a wastage of resources, especially costly capital, they will also hinder growth of downstream industries wherein the competitiveness of Indian Anna Salai, Teynampet, Chennai - 600 018, INDIA.
producers is best. Tel : +91-44-24342245 / 24349301
Ravi Raghavan E-Mail : chemetchennai@chemetindia.com

130 Chemical Weekly February 4, 2025

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