FICCI and Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt. of India, hosted Industry Meeton “Indian Chemical & Petrochemical Industry & India CHEM 2018″, on Monday, at Hyderabad. Shri Raghavendra Rao, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Govt. of India; presided over the meet. Industry experts and representatives and senior officials, attended the meeting.
The meet taking is happening at a crucial juncture for the state of Telangana, which is undertaking several policy initiatives with clear focus for the development and growth of the sector in the state. The meet is also significant, as the Department of Chemical and Petrochemical, Govt. of India; is in the process of preparing the National Chemical policy and redrafting the existing National Petrochemical policy. The meet served as a brainstorming session to aid in the policy formulation, with the Industry sharing its opinion and expectations.
The meet also threw focus on India CHEM 2018 – the flagship event of the industry, being organized by FICCI along with the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Govt. of India, from October 4th to 6th, 2018, in Mumbai.
Shri P Raghavendra Rao, Secretary, Chemicals & Petrochemicals for Hyderabad Industry meet .
India’s vibrant Chemical & Petrochemicals industry is a focus destination for investment & it has witnessed robust growth in the past decade. It is a knowledge as well as capital intensive industry which employs a large number of people. Strong domestic demand, driven by increasing purchasing power parity in the country, is one of the main pillars of Indian manufacturing sector, and India is expected to maintain healthy growth in the years to come.
The Indian Chemical industry is approx. 3% of the world (in terms of value). The Indian chemical sector is poised to become 4th largest in world by 2022. Globally, chemical industry was valued at $ 4.5Tn in 2016 and is expected to grow at 5.5% per annum till 2020 driven by demand from end use industries. The Indian Chemical Industry size is $ 155 Bn in 2016 (3.4% to the global chem. It ranks 14th in exports & 8th in imports of chemicals (excluding pharmaceutical products) globally. The industry is increasingly shifting eastwards in line with the shift of its key consumer industries (e.g. automotive, electronics, etc.), to leverage higher manufacturing competitiveness of emerging Asian economies and to serve the increasing local demand. China, as result of this shift, is the largest contributor with 34% share followed by European Union (17%) and North America (16%) to the global chemical industry.
This is a time when the world needs new engines of growth and chemical industry could play a crucial role in the same. Through Make in India campaigns, we are making India a destination which welcomes business and where it is easy to do business.
As we are aware, the country’s chemical industry has the potential to reach USD 226 billion by FY20. The growth is expected to be driven by rising demand in end-use segments and expanding exports fuelled by increasing export competitiveness. The chemical industry’s R&D spends would need to go up significantly from current levels of less than 0.5% of sales to 2% by 2020 and eventually reach closer to global benchmarks of 4% of sales.
To further support this growth, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one of the most significant reforms introduced in the history of the Indian fiscal evolution which will positively impact ease of doing business. With GST introduction, the way India does business has change, forever. The trickle-down and cascading effects of the GST in other sectors such as logistics, manufacturing, auto and consumer products too will impact the chemicals and polymers industry.
For enhancing the share of manufacturing to GDP and to create large number of jobs, Chemical sector has an important role to play in this endeavour. Indian Chemical industry currently employs approx. 2Mn people. Based on industry data of raw material consumption, installed machinery and growth trend for the next decade, incremental manpower requirement of around 1.1 million from 2015 to 2024 is estimated in petrochemical sector.
To boost chemicals manufacturing and to make the sector globally competitive, the government is taking various steps such as –
- Review of PCPIR implementation
- Duty structures on several products have been rationalized
- Anti-dumping duties implemented on products where there was a clear dumping situation
- Improve the ease of doing business under the ambit of “Make in India”
- Make Standard Mandatory
I want to emphasize here that the growth of the industry must come with greater realization of and increased attention to the safety, health and environmental standards. The chemical industry in the coming decades has to promote sustainable development by investing in technologies that protects environment and stimulates growth while balancing economic needs and financial constraints. The industry has, therefore, continuously progress in these areas.
Industry needs to come together and work with the Government to make initiatives like PCPIRs and ‘Make in India’ a success. This collaboration can make Indian Chemical industry as one of the most competitive in the world.
To facilitate this Growth, My Department along with FICCI are organising 10thEdition of mega event ie India Chem – 2018 from 4-6 October In Mumbai.
India Chem is an occasion for the industry representatives from across the world to come on one platform, and share their thoughts and vision about the future growth of the industry. India Chem- 2018 will have various forums such as
- India Japan Chemicals and Petrochemicals Forum
- India Germany Chemicals and Petrochemicals Forum
- India Petrochemicals Conclave –with MOPNG
- India Agrochemicals Conclavewith Ministry of Agriculture.
- India Promach(Process Plant and Automation )- with Heavy Industry .
In addition, India Chem will have Exhibition, CEO’s forum, Buyer Seller Meets, Rounds Etc. I invite The state of Telangana and all of you to participate at India Chem 2018.
