New Delhi : Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the 3rd Edition of Summit on “Global Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturing Hubs in India” (GCPMH 2023) today at New Delhi. Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba also graced the occasion.
Minister of Industries, MSME & Energy, Govt of Odisha Shri Pratap Keshari, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Shri Arun Baroka, Chairman-FICCI Petrochemicals Committee and MD & CEO Shri Prabh Das and Senior Officers of Ministry, Senior Captains of the Industry, Academicians, Policy makers and others with interest in the emerging opportunities in the Chemical & Petrochemical Industry were also present on this occasion.
On her keynote address, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian chemical and petrochemicals sector has huge potential and it also impacts other sectors of the economy. The importance of the sector can be gauged from the fact that it deals with more than 80,000 chemicals products which involves sectors like Agriculture, Infrastructure, Textiles, Pharma, Packaging, etc.
She also stated that India is all set to become energy independent by 2047 and achieving net zero by 2070. She highlighted the need to focus on Green growth and reduction in carbon intensity. The combined exports of major chemicals and petrochemicals in 2022-23 was $9 billion but imports also increased to $ 13.33 billion. Many of these imports included items which can be produced in India itself and the Government is putting all out efforts in this direction as well.
The Finance minister also brought attention towards the market of Specialty chemicals which is growing exponentially at 12% CAGR. Thus, there is need for more robust support for specialized chemicals. The emergence of this market is driven by country’s strong process engineering capabilities, low-cost manufacturing capabilities and abundant manpower.