The Indian chemical sector needs to be future-ready for any situations: Mr. H.S. Karangle, General Director, ICC

Mr. H.S. Karangle, General Director, Indian Chemical Council

Mumbai: The novel Coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in December 2019 has taken away nearly 7000 lives and has infected over 2 lakh people globally. In India, till now there are 3 mortality cases and around 147 people have been affected by "COVID 19". Not only this but with 'Coronavirus', there have been far-reaching impacts on various industries including chemical and petrochemical industries. The petrochemical and chemical industries have been traditionally among Hubei's pillar industries, also contributing much to China's chemical exports. India depends on China for chemicals across the value chain with the latter's share in imports for broad categories ranging between 10 and 40%.

'The Indian chemical' sector needs to be future-ready for situations like these and there is a need to strengthen India's domestic Chemical production base, which is the backbone of India's industrial and agricultural development. The chemical industry needs to better its feedstock allocation policy, government investments in chemical clusters across the country, easier access to capital due to its capital intensive nature, and simpler pollution compliance laws. Policies favoring the chemical sector will give a fillip to all industries dependent on this industry, from Led lights to electronics, from EVs to apparels, thereby giving a boost to the entire Indian economy.