Page 132 - CW E-Magazine (25-2-2025)

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ICC INDUSTRY INSTITUTIONS PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT

Innovations in chemical industry need an ecosystem

and partnerships to fl ourish

Innovation in chemicals has been
slow in the last several decades, ex-
emplifi ed by the fact that fundamental
molecular discoveries in thermoplas-
tics were last made in the 1960s. The
later years have only seen incremental
improvements in processes and pro-
ducts, including in formulations. Part
of the reason for this state of affairs is
that the easy wins have been done, and
the molecules invented worked really
well. This led many companies to end
in-house fundamental research pro-
grammes intended for the long haul and
instead focus on ones that delivered
solutions for short-term challenges. tors to support early stages of the disco- include lack of regulatory support –
very process; growth and infrastructure slowly developing or inconsistent regu-
But that has now changed. Today, investors for further industrialization; lations; and and lack of smart money,
there is many hundreds of billion worth converters and brand owners who pro- consequent to too few investors.
of new innovation demand, stemming vide offtake, target costs and proper-
from diverse sectors – all enabled by ties; process technology vendors; and India, he added, is in a great posi-
chemicals. These include new bat- equipment suppliers. tion to succeed but needs to address
tery materials, with ability to better gaps – academic collaboration, quality
dissipate heat generated; recycling of “Governments have a role to play in standards, bureaucracy and talent
packaging made of one or more types framing the regulations often essential retention. “Many chemical players
of polymers; decarbonisation of indus- for new materials,” he observed while already leverage India as an R&D hub.”
try, which needs renewable feedstocks, speaking at the Indian Chemical Coun-
electrifi cation of processes, waste heat cil (ICC)’s ‘Industry Institutions Part- Meagre R&D spend
use, etc.; and replacement of hazardous nership Summit’ organised in Chennai Mr. Vijay Sankar, Chairman,
substances like PFAS, solvents, etc. on January 30, 2025, on the theme Sanmar Group, and former President
with safer alternatives, among others. ‘Synergising success: Bridging Tech in of ICC, questioned whether “India was
India’s chemical industry.’ getting the bang for the buck when it
The pace of R&D is also accelerat- comes to even the meagre R&D spend
ing thanks to new computing techno- Mr. Spamman also noted that there in the industry.” He termed, India as
logies, including automation, artifi cial is lots of innovation in the way inno- an “outlier” as share of industrial R&D
intelligence (AI) and generative-AI. vation projects are funded, so as to is low at 37% on an already low total
derisk and access lower risk capital. base. “This number has to dramati-
According Mr. Axel Spamann, Partner, “It is easy to fail for a number of rea- cally go up. But we don’t see too many
McKinsey & Company (Germany), sons,” he noted, pointing to the ‘Tech Indian companies partnering with the
impactful innovation needs more push’ focus, i.e., developing a techno- research institutes that have been set
than the technology alone; it will need logy that excites chemists, but does not up.”
an ecosystem that nurtures and enables meet market needs; and failing to work
the efforts in a laboratory. These in- across the ecosystem with partners, in Mr. Sankar also lamented the fact
clude partnerships with universities as the belief that one can go it alone or just that, increasingly, process licenses are
idea generators; venture capital inves- license it out. Other reasons for failures being sought from China. “There is

132 Chemical Weekly February 25, 2025

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