STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME

INDIA’S CHEMICAL SECTOR IS WITNESSING AN UPWARD CURVE, AND SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THE GROWTH OF THIS SECTOR INCLUDING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, INNOVATION, R&D AND REGULAR AND LARGE INVESTMENTS

- LITTLE YADAV

INDIA’S CHEMICAL SECTOR HAS SEEN A steady rise over the years. Today, the country ranks 6th in the world in chemical sales and contributes 3 per cent to the global chemical industry. The Indian chemicals industry is highly diversified covering more than 80,000 commercial products. It is broadly classified into bulk chemicals, specialty chemicals, agrochemicals, petrochemicals, polymers, and fertilizers.

Several factors have contributed to the robust growth of the chemicals sector. Rapid consumerism, acceleration in manufacturing in India for both domestic as well as export markets is the key contributor to the development of the chemicals sector in recent years. Continued focus in promoting investments in the chemical industry, policy changes and growth of PCPIRs has also helped the growth of chemical and petrochemical industry. The per capita consumption of chemicals in India (excluding pharma) stands at $100 million; significantly lower than the global average of $500 million. Over the last 28 years, India has grown rapidly at an average of 7 per cent. The increase in per capita income, rising spending power, overall population and working population growth are some other factors. Along with this growing middle-class base, urbanization and industrialization are also the major drivers of the end-use sectors that are consuming chemicals in various forms.