Puri says India accounts for 10+% in global petchem growth
Chemicals & Petrochemicals demand in India is expected to nearly triple and reach US$1 trillion by 2040 with investment of more than US$87 billion in the next decade, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told an international conference in New Delhi on 19 May 2023.
“We are expecting the coming decade to bring in investments worth more than US$87 billion. India is expected to account for more than 10% of the world’s growth in petrochemicals,” he said at the Asian Petrochemical Industry Conference themed ‘Ushering in a Sustainable Future’.
Speaking on the promising investment opportunities in the Petrochemical Sector, Puri said the Government is proactively addressing the present challenges and implementing several flagship initiatives to improve the overall competitiveness, quality and output of the industry.
The Government has instituted several policies to boost this sector including 100% FDI through automatic routes, PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region) zones and set up of infrastructure such as 10+ plastic parks.
Informing about the proposed new PCPIR policy, the Minister said that it would be implemented between 2020–35 and is expected to attract an approximate combined investment of over Rs.34 lakh crores (US$420 billion) for the sector.
“Indian chemical sector continues to grow at a rate of 1.2-1.5 times the GDP. Going forward, as the chemical market in India grows to US$300 billion from the current valuation of US$178 billion.”
He elaborated, “About 80% of India’s petrochemicals capacity is integrated with petroleum refineries. This gives India an edge in terms of petrochemical feedstock certainty.
“We have increased India’s refining capacity from 215 MMTPA in 2013-14 to 251.2 MMTPA – the fourth largest in the world after the United States, China and Russia.”
Talking on energy availability, affordability and security for all, the Minister said, “India is not only the sixth largest chemicals producer in the World and the fourth in Asia but also exports Chemicals to more than 175 countries. It accounts for 13% of India’s total exports.”
“25% of the global energy demand growth in the next two decades is going to emanate out of India,” he said.
The Petrochemical Sector is governed by several factors, the most important of these is the increasing demand for products from a growing population and a rapidly expanding economy.
The Indian petrochemical industry has come a long way from inception in the 1970s and is poised for transformational growth. It is expected to contribute almost 10% to the incremental growth in the global petrochemical demand in the coming years. fiinews.com
