Indian Chemical Industry to grow at 15%; Geared up for developing innovative, green and safe solutions

No branch of science had advanced so much as Chemistry – CII National committee on Chemicals

The Indian Chemicals industry, which accounts for 2.51 per cent of its overall GDP and 15.95 per cent of its manufacturing, is expected to grow at 15 per cent per annum over the next few years. The industry is geared up for the development of innovative, green and safe solutions for its consumers and is wholeheartedly participating in Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship policy of ‘Make in India’ and unique initiative of ‘Swacch Bharat’.

CII under the theme of Chemistry Everywhere today organised a conference on ‘Doing Chemistry with a Purpose: ‘Innovative, green and safe solutions for life’. The forum provided an opportunity to consider what ‘Make in India’ really meant and its implications for the Indian industry with special focus on the chemical sector.

Present at the occasion were Mr. Nadir Godrej, Chairman, CII National committee on Chemicals and Managing Director, Godrej Industries Ltd, Dr AJV Prasad, Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and experts from the industry and academia.

Dr. AJV Prasad, Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals said “The Chemicals industry already makes a major contribution to what’s made in India. The Chemical industry is expected to grow at a rate of 15% per annum over the next few years. The current government is working on the national chemical policy and will be coming up with the document soon.”

Dr. Prasad further added, “The Indian Chemical industry including fertilizers and petrochemicals is estimated approximately at US$144 billion which is about 4% of the global market of $3.6 trillion. The industry accounts for 15.95 per cent of India’s manufacturing and 2.51 per cent of its overall GDP, however its impact is much broader.”

CII has a key role to play in raising the industry’s profile and advocating its interests. The conference was a part of an on-going campaign- ‘Chemistry Everywhere’ to engage people in the vital and valuable contribution that the industry makes to the wellbeing of all Indians.

Lending his views on the occasion Mr. Nadir Godrej, Chairman, CII National committee on Chemicals said “For ‘Make in India’ to live up to its promise requires the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders including government, industry and academicians. We would also appeal various industries to reduce imports by encouraging indigenous production which will help us grow on the back of buoying campaigns like Make in India & Swatch Bharat. Chemistry is the solution to the society.”

The aim of the conference was also to deliberate on the campaigns introduced by the Modi Government- ‘Make in India’ and ‘Swatch Bharat’. The campaigns require an established and stable, competitive but profitable, Chemicals supply chain. The daylong conference was divided into three phases- the inaugural session, session on chemistry everywhere entailing a panel discussion and an interactive session and the third phase delving deep into the economic and political facets to the industry.

The conference was a part of on-going campaign to engage people in the vital and valuable contribution that the industry makes to the wellbeing of all Indians. Youth who have participated in CII’s Photo Contest under the theme ‘Chemistry Everywhere’ were recognized for their contribution. Panelist Padma Vibhushan Prof. M. M. Sharma, ex-Director ICT, Prof. G. D. Yadav, Vice Chancellor, ICT, Mr. Prof Uday Maitra, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, T.V. Venkateswaran, Scientist, Department of Science and Technology and Dr Arnab Bhattacharya, TIFR, Mumbai deliberated on success stories of Indian Chemistry innovating to do greener, safer chemistry, which not only benefited chemical sector but also had an allied impact in all other areas of manufacturing.

The Conference also saw the felicitating of the winner of the Hindustan Times Photo- Contest, an initiative undertaken by CII National Committee on Chemicals to highlight the presence of chemistry in our daily lives, in collaboration with the Hindustan Times.

About Chemistry Everywhere

Recognising the contribution of chemistry and chemicals to life as one of the key issues requiring immediate attention, CII National Committee on Chemicals, under the aegis of its Chairman Mr. N B Godrej, MD, Godrej Industries Ltd, adopted ‘Chemistry Everywhere’ as its theme of the year. The aim of this initiative is to highlight on the importance of chemistry in everyday life and bringing to the fore the issues and opportunities of the industry.

 

Mumbai, November 26^th 2014

The Chemical Industry in Modi’s India

Exclusive Poem By Nadir Godrej, Chairman CII National Committee on Chemicals and Managing Director Godrej Industries

While grammarians would like to curb

An object less transitive verb,

“Make in India” is on everyone’s lips

And promoted on all of Modi’s trips.

“Swacch Bharat” is another catchy call

And both these initiatives squarely fall

Within the Chemical Industry’s domain.

And we can contribute and gain.

Detergents can help to clean

And Chemistry is getting green.

And Chemistry is the solution

To prevent all pollution.

And chemicals have a one sixth stake

In everything that we make.

But even more we say with pride

A chemical’s always inside.

Chemicals are here and there

Chemicals are everywhere.

And therefore we have a session where

This idea we would like to share.

And thanks to Responsible Care

Now problems are extremely rare.

And soon I hope we’ll all decide

To take the initiative industry-wide.

And later in the day

We’ll show how we found a way,

With pictures from everyday,

To unequivocally say

That chemistry is everywhere.

I mentioned our industry’s large share

In manufacturing today.

So how can we now  find a way

To make all chemicals we need.

Can “Make in India”, now succeed?

Low cost feedstock and energy

Is what we now need to see.

We need more shale and coal bed gas

As well as low cost biomass.

Our technical skills we should hone

And build many a Chemical Zone.

Our taxes need to be more light

Without surprises that cause fright.

The tax incentives that we see

For R&D and Green Energy

Will never see any traction

Without reduction or retraction

Of M.A.T. which is now far too high.

It’s time to say so long, good bye!

As newer programs come in stride

Our industry will join the ride

And India surely can take pride

In rapid growth that will provide

Prosperity to one and all

So let us rise to the call.

The 4th CII National Conference on AgriBiotechnology ‘Smart Agriculture: Transformation through Biotechnology’

Shri Mohanbhai Kalayanjibhai Kundariya, Minister of State (Agriculture) addressing the 4^th CII National Conference on AgriBiotechnology at New Delhi said, “Our Government under the leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is committed to working with industry leaders to bring about a revolution in the agricultural sector in India. We will discuss the various issues and challenges around agriculture, agri-biotechnology and other related areas raised during today’s conference and come up with measures to provide an impetus to the sector.”

He further added that the role of private players is extremely important in bringing quality and affordable food to our growing population and that the government would work to provide better crop prices to farmers, remove trade barriers and support technologies that are environment friendly. Stressing on the importance of producing more from the available land and water, Mr. Kundariya said, “Technology, like agri-biotechnology, if used intelligently will play an important role in improving our agricultural output especially in the light of our limited land and water resources which are reducing day by day. ”Shri Kundariya absorbed the key challenges and issues in the agri-biotech sector raised by the various presenters.

The Conference started with highlighting the emerging context and major issues such as Sustainability, Innovation & Technology, limitations – both economical and ecological – of the tools used currently in Agriculture along with Climate Change and Food Inflation and Food Quality and others.

The first day of the conference witnessed eminent personalities from Government, Industry, Institutions and associations who deliberated key issues. An interesting mix of topics including sustainable Resource Use – Challenges and Answers, Lab to field – Successfully Reaping benefits and resolving Farmer & Consumers Challenges – Role  of Biotechnology were discussed at length during the first day of the Conference.

The Opening session of the conference was presided by welcome and introductory remarks given by Mr. Ashwin Shroff, Co-Chairman, CII National Conference on Biotechnology & Chairman and MD, Excel Industries Ltd“ Last century belonged to India because of IT and this century will belong to India because of Biotechnology”. He further said Potential of Biotechnology is often curbed by the pulls and pressures of the myths associated with it due to which opportunities are missed.

 

(L-R) Dr. Rajiv K Sinha, Former Associate Professor, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Mr Ashwin Shroff, Co- Chairman, CII National Committee on Biotechnology & Chairman and MD , Excel Industries Ltd; Hon’ble Mr Mohanbhai Kalayanjibhai Kundariya, Dr. A. K. Sikka, Dr A M Sheikh. 

While addressing the opening session Dr. P. S. Ahuja, Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) said 4-5% Agricultural is needed to annually to meet the growing demand. He said there is a need to combat salinity for making it drought resistant.

Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary (Seeds), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India in his address said there needs to be a harmony in the new seeds bill to bring about positive change. He also added that integration of biotech to farming can revolutionize India. He further added that GM momentum is lost and it needs to be introduced in other areas of technology.

Mr. Ram Kaundinya, Director General, ABLE-AG stressed upon proper infrastructure and support to innovation and technology. He mentioned that there is a need to educate and aware all stakeholders about the evolving technologies.

The need to constantly & effectively communicate the responsible and safe use of Biotechnology by Government Agencies, Academia & the private players was emphasised.

“India and United States need to find creative solutions to issues impeding India US Trade Relations” Ambassador Michael Froman, USTR

At a closed door round table with a senior industry group from the Confederation of Indian Industry, US Trade Representative, Ambassador Michael Froman highlighted issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights protection, local sourcing norms, regulatory challenges and mobility of high skilled labor. He stressed on the high standards for IPR being adopted by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and suggested that as an innovative economy, India needs to look at IPR norms more closely. At the same time, he suggested that collaborative and creative solutions need to be explored by both countries to address and resolve issues where this is no agreement. Ms Kathleen Stephens, US Ambassador to India, also participated in the meeting.

Ambassador Froman further spoke of US President Obama’s recent executive order on immigration which will benefit H1B workers and their spouses, many of whom are from India. He expressed hope that the President’s action will help ease concerns of Indian companies with regard to challenges in high skill labor mobility with the US.

On the Indian side, the interaction was led Mr Ajay S Shriram, President, CII; Mr Sumit Mazumder, President Designate, CII; and Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.

Senior representatives from Indian companies spanning diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, technology, financial services, engineering and automotive sectors raised some of the major issues and challenges faced by Indian companies in doing business with and in the US. Specific issues raised included the lapsing of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by the US Congress which is having a detrimental impact on Indian SMEs; the challenges faced by Indian generic pharmaceutical companies with regard to the USFDA; the upcoming BASEL III norms on bank capital adequacy which will negatively impact financing for trade by SMEs and onerous restrictions on SMEs imposed by the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Referring to FDI caps on various sectors, Mr.Ajay Shriram, President CII said “the Government of India is committed to opening up the Indian economy—we have already seen this with the defense sector and expect the trend to continue in other areas also”.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII further expressed satisfaction on the resolution of the impasse at WTO and said “CII is extremely pleased that India and the United States have come to an understanding with regard to Trade Facilitation and Food Security.”

 

NIT Warangal signs MoU with Elico Ltd at CII Knowledgexpo

CII higher education summit at Knowledgexpo saw words on industry – academia collaboration translating into action with the inking of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between National Institute of Technology, Warangal and Hyderabad-based company Elico Ltd. The MoU was signed during a session on research partnerships between industry and institutes which saw captains from both industry and institutes brainstorm on this subject with vigour and passion.

Elico Ltd is the first analytical instrumentation manufacturing company in India based at Hyderabad. The Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Mr Ramesh Datla, who is also the Chairman of CII National Committee on Intellectual Property and who signed the MoU with the Director of NIT Warangal, Dr Srinivas Rao, said he looked forward to working once again with the academia to take forward some of the research work which his company was keen to take up.

As part of the MoU, joint research projects, both on short term and long term basis, which are of interest to Elico and NIT Warangal will be identified and implemented on mutually agreed basis.

Some key provisions of the MoU are:

• To conduct joint research projects.
• To impart industry-related training to make the academic model more employment oriented.
• To promote continuous development and upgradation of skills for both the teaching staff and students in order to successfully meet the growing needs of industry.
• To provide research opportunities and industrial exposure to Ph.D. students.
• To identify suitable projects and provide support for mutual benefit.
• To recruit students at all levels through ‘On Campus Selection Process’.
• To jointly approach funding agencies for carrying out R&D projects of mutual interest.