Govt working on framing industry-friendly policies for petrochemicals sector, says Khuba
India needs to connect all resources and find ways to reduce the logistics cost, which is 14% of the GDP, as of now, compared to the global average of 9%, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has told an industry meeting on 25 Feb 2022.
He said, “To overcome this, the government adopted a holistic approach. The vision should be clear and long-term.
“We need to work together to connect all our resources and find ways that how can we reduce the logistics cost.”
He further stated that the result of adopting this holistic approach is that when the global economy is down, the global rating agencies predict, that in the current and next financial year, Indian economy is likely to grow by 7-8% and 8-9%.
“I believe that by recognizing our strengths, we have to move forward,” he said at the ‘Industry Connect 2022 – Industry and Academia Synergy’, organized by Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) in association with FICCI under the aegis of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.
“The ‘Industry Connect’ program is a result of having holistic approach and we must create a synergy amongst all stakeholders.
“In order to have an integrated development approach, we need to understand the need of the industry. Industry Connect gives a platform to have synergy between CIPET and industry.”
Dr Mandaviya also stressed, “In this era of globalization, we will have to import and export … which means the critical requirements of India should be developed in India only. The basic material for over 80,000 industries is provided by the chemicals and petrochemicals sector,” he added.
“We are also working to bring PLI for chemicals sector,” the Minister said of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) which has been introduced to various sectors.
The petrochemicals sector has around Rs.8 lakh crore investment opportunities and for this the Government is working on framing industry friendly policies which will address the concerns of the industry as well, according to Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.
But the industry should engage more with CIPET to ensure better results for the sector, added Arti Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, assuring that CIPET can support a lot of start-ups that need technical support in the sector.
“The growth potential is immense and now is the time for innovation as the world is changing with disruptions and we need to be ready to turn them into our advantage,” she said.
The industry need to adopt more digitization and stay ahead of the curve, according to Prabh Das, Chairman, FICCI Petrochemicals Committee and MD & CEO, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited. “Focused attention on this will certainly increase the efficiency and productivity in companies.”
The industry was also assured of all possible help including funding support by Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science and Technology.
He urged the industry to take initiatives for import substitution, saying the technology development board will promote them.
CIPET Director General Prof (Dr) Shishir Sinha highlighted the importance of CIPET, explaining that the idea behind organizing Industry Connect 2022 was to establish synergy between the CIPET and industry. He described in detail, the support for skilling and technical support available at CIPET for the industry.
CPMA President Kamal Nanavaty stressed on the need to bridge the skill gap in the sector.
He also presented the industry 4.0 creating requirement of skilled manpower in the plastic processing industry with changing skill set in plastics processing; sustainable products and innovative designing; technology prospects for future and new growth drivers/sub sectors/ catalyst. fiinews.com
