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India Chemical Industry Outlook Conference 2025 India Chemical Industry Outlook Conference 2025

to improve in India to do capex better,” benefi t from privileged access to raw He spoke about the signifi cant contri-
he observed. materials. butions of Madame Curie – the fi rst
woman to win a Nobel Prize – and urged
While there are government incen- On the other extreme are companies the industry to take inspiration from her
tives available to investors – local and that operate a narrow portfolio with cost approach to technology transfer and inno-
foreign –including from the local bodies leadership. These companies leverage vation which always focused on being
that compete fi ercely, most don’t give scale of manufacturing, process tech- used in the service of mankind rather
money but connect to funds from other nology leadership, lean supply chains, than for purely commercial purposes.
sources. Benefi ts include allocation of and privileged access to raw materials He urged the industry to take steps to
free land; offers to build the factory and for competitiveness. Examples include partner with institutions like IITs to
offer it free of rent for, say, fi ve years; Lomord Billions (the world’s–largest address the challenge of emission
tax-free income for some time, fol- titanium dioxide producer; Wanhua, a reduction in the chemicals sector.
lowed by a period of discounted tax; leader in polyisocyanate chemistry; and
as well as expedited regulatory approval. Hisun Chemical, which is fully inte- Mr. Aron also noted the changing
grated in the Nylon value chain right up geopolitical scenario and hoped that
‘Chemical companies have to fi gure to basic chemicals). the proposed free trade agreement with
out their sweet spot’ Europe would open up more opportunities standards for specifi c products and
Jayant Dhobley, Business Head and “In the chemical industry, balance 2047. Chemicals is one of the focus for the domestic chemical industry. check imports of low-quality products
CEO – Global Chemicals, Fashion Yarn & of operational excellence, product leader compared to the 2020 baseline. The areas,” he stated. into the country.
Insulators, Aditya Birla Group, highlighted ship and customer intimacy is needed. company will also enable 3-mt of plas- He also gave details about some of
the varying portfolio choices companies But it is very hard to do all three tic to be collected, reused or recycled Urgent need for technological the important initiatives being supported Need for global value chain integra-
make and the leadership initiatives needed well. Chemical companies have to fi gure through directives and partnerships. reinvention by the DCPC. These included the tion
for a successful play in each. out what is their sweet spot. If you do Deepankar Aron, Joint Secretary, partnership of Hindustan Insecticides Ltd Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary,
that, it is possible to be competitive and On the energy front. Dr. Sreeram DCPC, stressed the urgent need for with United Nations Industrial Deve- Department of Chemicals & Petro-
Companies that choose to operate successful in any type of business,” Mr. stressed that the industry cannot afford technological reinvention. He empha- lopment Organization (UNIDO) to chemicals (DCPC), Ministry of Chemi-
a narrow portfolio with application Dhobley observed. to dismiss nuclear energy as an scal- sized that achieving ‘Viksit Bharat reduce use of harmful pesticides and cals and Fertilisers, Government of
leadership typically offer specialized able, carbon-free option, which has 2047’– targeting a $26-trillion economy promote deployment of bio-pesticides; India, highlighted the need for increased
products with high intellectual property become even more strategic with the and a per capita income exceeding opening of plastic waste management investments, R&D, and global value
barriers; possess deep application skills emergence of Small Modular Reactors. $14,000 will need a sizeable contri- centres; CIPET (Central Institute of chain integration.
in end-industry segments; and have the bution from the chemical industry. “With Petrochemicals Engineering & Tech-
ability to collaborate with customer’s New chemical cluster in AP chemical exports contributing 7% of nology) co-ordinated training and skill- A whitepaper by McKinsey & Co.,
customer and co-create solutions. Mr. C.M. Saikanth Verma, CEO, India’s merchandise exports ($45-bn in ing programmes, especially ones on ‘Building Resilience for Global Leader-
Examples of such companies include Andhra Pradesh Economic Develop- 2024) and FDI infl ows nearing $20-bn reducing accidents in hazardous units; ship: The Path Forward for India’s
Victrex, in high performance engineering ment Board, Government of Andhra over two decades, the sector remains a and the issuance of Quality Control Chemicals Industry,’ was released at
plastics; and Covestro in polycarbonate. Pradesh, invited the industry to invest key growth driver,” he said. Orders (QCOs) to establish quality the event.
in a new chemicals and pharma cluster,
Companies that operate a broad currently being developed at Mulapeta.
portfolio with application leadership – He also pointed to a few other initia-
e.g., BASF, Sinopec, Mitsubishi Chemi- tives that will address feedstock and
cals – are particularly astute at manag- infrastructure concerns of potential
ing complexity of manufacturing and Dow’s sustainability journey investors, including the setting up of
supply chains. But this is a tough spot Dr. A.N. Sreeram, Sr. Vice Presi- a new refinery-cum-petrochemical
to operate for long periods and many dent – R&D, Dow USA, highlighted complex by Bharat Petroleum Corpo-
companies have chosen to opt out of the sustainability journey at Dow over ration Ltd. (BPCL); the likelihood of a
this approach. the years. While the fi rst two genera- gas pipeline network in the State; and a
tions of sustainability initiatives green hydrogen hub planned in Rayal-
Companies that operate a broad focused on the footprint and handprint seema region.
portfolio with cost leadership as focus – of operations, and delivered $6-bn in
e.g., INEOS, Kingfa – excel in process combined economic savings, the next “Andhra Pradesh is aiming to be
technology leadership, standardization phase will see Dow reduce net annual No. 1 in the speed of doing business
of products, lean supply chains, and carbon emissions by 5-mt, by 2030, and is eyeing 15% CAGR growth to

176 Chemical Weekly March 25, 2025 Chemical Weekly March 25, 2025 177

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