R&D, Innovation and Sustainability: The Trio Shaping India's Chemical Manufacturing Future

India’s chemical industry is evolving rapidly, driven by rising global expectations for quality and sustainability and domestic demand for safer, high-performance solutions. With innovation, R&D and cleaner manufacturing at its core, the sector is poised to transform from a volume-driven supplier to a world-class creator of nextgeneration chemical technologies.

- Vishal Sharma

India's chemical sector has reached an interesting turn. Customers abroad want predictable quality and clearer sustainability credentials. Buyers at home want local solutions that are safe, durable and cost-effective. The country has engineers, chemists and factories in place. But what it really needs now is to make research, faster innovation and cleaner manufacturing the normal way of working.

R&D As a Growth Engine

You notice it quickly on a plant tour: laboratories and pilot units sit cheek-by-jowl with production lines. That setup isn't accidental. Firms investing in R&D are shifting from commodity competition to producing speciality and performance chemicals that command better margins and longer customer relationships.

Across labs in India, teams are focused on cleaner surfactants, high purity oleochemicals, tailored esters and process aids that lower impurities and improve consistency. These are not glamorous headlines; they are practical advances i.e. better catalysts, tighter purification and smarter upstream controls that help companies deliver predictable outcomes to demanding customers. The reward here is business resilience.

A steady rise in R&D spending across India's scientific ecosystem supports this shift. While Indian chemical companies spend 7 percent of their profitability on R&D as against 45 percent by the global companies, this industry-funded R&D has been one of the fastest-growing components. However, we need to invest more in R&D.