The demand for petrochemicals will jump for 30 to 40 million tons in next three years. Considering the feedstock requirement gaps, the country will urgently need at least five new integrated cracker plants, each with 1.5-million-ton capacity before 2025. That will work for at least 20-30% of value addition for the feedstock requirement and serve the increasing demand of petrochemical products in the country.
Announcing this, Shri P Raghavendra Rao, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & fertilizers, Government of India said, India moves big in its commitment to avail basic feedstock for the Chemicals & Petrochemicals industry, by setting up two-level perspective plans for the years 2025 and 2040.
Shri Rao was speaking in the Indian Chemical & Petrochemical Conference (ICPC) 2018: Vision 2040 conference today in New Delhi. The ICPC policy forum organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Ministry of Chemicals & fertilizers, Government of India, was designed to discuss towards establishing a robust Policy framework for promoting sustainable practices.
There are some significant gaps identified for basic feedstock in India. Ethylene gap is projected for 7-7.5 million ton by 2025. To attend the gaps in a sustainable manner, the government is formulating a national policy for petrochemicals. However, the Government wishes to make the policy more action-driven and not prescriptive, giving sustainability and green practices adequate importance. That would further help spurring industrial as well as overall socio-economic development of the country, the Secretary added.
The CII Report on Chemicals & Petrochemicals: Current scenario and the road ahead was also launched during the ICPC 2018 conference. The report, highlights some significant gaps in the sector, including disproportionate rise in imports due to limited availability of feedstock, unfavorable comparative advantage in terms of duty structure, difficult access to infrastructure and technology etc. while also reflecting a positive growth momentum with industry. Currently contributing approximately 2% towards the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and around 16% to the manufacturing sector, the industry is poised to continue its growth in the future as well, the report mentioned.
Addressing the ICPC 2018, Dr Raman Ramachandran, Chairman, CII National Committee on Chemicals & Petrochemicals and CMD, BASF India said, a National Chemical Policy should be formulated to provide an enabling environment, infrastructure and duty structure, in addition to creating a framework for promoting safety, security and R&D, which will facilitate the sector to become more competitive. In addition, collaborative effort between the Government, Industry and Academia will give impetus to the growth momentum.