Fertilizer demand strong, projects Rao

India will urgently need at least five new integrated cracker plants to meet petrochemical demand which will increase by between 30-40 million tons over the next three years.

Each of these crackers must be designed to process 1.5-million-ton-per annum capacity before 2025, said P Raghavendra Rao, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers.

“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,” he said on covering the demand gap.

There are some significant gaps identified for basic feedstock in India. Ethylene gap is projected for 7-7.5 million ton by 2025.

To cover the gaps in a sustainable manner, the government is formulating a national policy for petrochemicals.

Rao assured a more action-driven policy 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, he added.

Rao was speaking at the Indian Chemical & Petrochemical Conference (ICPC) 2018: Vision 2040 conference in New Delhi.

The ICPC policy forum was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers on 5 Sept 2018.

Meanwhile, a CII Report on Chemicals & Petrochemicals has highlighted some significant gaps in the sector, including disproportionate rise in imports due to limited availability of feedstock.

It also cited unfavorable comparative advantage in terms of duty structure, difficult access to infrastructure and technology 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.

Dr Raman Ramachandran, Chairman, CII National Committee on Chemicals & Petrochemicals has called for a National Chemical Policy for 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, said Dr Ramachandran, who is also chairman and managing director of BASF India. fiinews.com