India’s chemical sector should be self sufficient after Covid – 19 Pandemic and there is a need to strengthen India’s domestic Chemical production base says Mr. H.S. Karangle, General Director, Indian Chemical Council.
The Corona virus crisis has severely hit the Indian economy which was already under a severe slowdown. Sectors like automobiles, pharma, electronics, and chemicals are facing shortage of raw materials and essential components which gets manufactured in China. The Chemical & Petrochemical Industry has been among Hubei’s pillar industries, contributing much to China’s chemical exports which is suffering due to the closure of factories there. With the rapid COVID 19 outbreak, there has been a significant void in the supply and demand chain in India which is impacting India’s growth story at a larger extend.
India’s manufacturing sector is highly dependent on its Chinese counterparts for the supply of essential raw materials and components. With China still facing the brunt of Covid 19, it is impacting India extensively. But having said that, in order to bridge the gap and cut down the shortage of raw materials, India is on the track to become a self-sufficient nation with comparatively less dependency on other countries for import and export. There is a wide range of opportunities for domestic manufacturers to explore along with the government’s support to make India least dependent on other countries.
With Corona virus, there has been far reaching impact on various industries including chemical and petrochemical industry. The petrochemical and chemical industries have been traditionally among Hubei’s pillar industries, also contributing much to China’s chemical exports. India depends on China for chemicals across the value chain with the latter’s share in imports for broad categories ranging between 10 and 40%.
The Indian chemical sector needs to be future-ready for situations like these and there is a need to strengthen India’s domestic Chemical production base, which is the backbone of India’s industrial and agricultural development says Mr. H.S. Karangle, General Director, Indian Chemical Council.
The chemical industry needs to better its feedstock allocation policy, government investments in chemical clusters across the country, easier access to capital due to its capital intensive nature, and simpler pollution compliance laws. Policies favoring the chemical sector will give a fillip to all industries dependent on this industry, from Led lights to electronics, from EVs to apparels, thereby giving a boost to the entire Indian economy.
