NEW DELHI : Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt of India today said that the Indian chemicals and petrochemicals industry will play a key role in achieving the $5 trillion target under the Atamanirbhar Bharat vision. “In this era of globalization, we will have to import and export but Atamanirbhar Bharat 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.

Addressing ‘Industry Connect 2022 – Industry and Academia Synergy’, organized by CIPET in association with FICCI under the aegis of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Dr. Mandaviya stressed on the need to reduce the logistic cost. He noted that the average global logistic cost of GDP is around 9 per cent and in India it is 14 per cent of GDP. “To overcome this, the government adopted a holistic approach and Gati Shakti plan was initiated. 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 added.

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 percent and 8-9 per cent. “I believe that by recognizing our strengths, we have to move forward,” he said.

Dr Mandaviya further stated that 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 said that the government introduced PLI scheme in various sector and we are also working to bring PLI for chemicals sector.

Mr Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers & MNRE, Govt of India said that India has shown its strength to the world and today it is exporting ventilators, masks, PPE Kits etc to the world. He also stated that CIPET is not only an academic institution but also an industry supporting organization. “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,” he added.

Ms Arti Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India said that lot of start-ups need technical support in the sector and CIPET can support them. Industry should engage more with CIPET to ensure better results for 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 added.

Mr Prabh Das, Chairman, FICCI Petrochemicals Committee and MD & CEO, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited said that we need to adopt more of digitization and stay ahead of the curve. Focussed attention on this will certainly increase the efficiency and productivity in companies,” he added.

Mr Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science and Technology urged the industry to take initiatives for import substitution and technology development board will promote them. He further assured all possible help to industry including funding support.

Prof (Dr) Shishir Sinha, Director General, CIPET while highlighting the importance of CIPET said that the idea behind organizing Industry Connect 2022 is 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.

Mr Kamal Nanavaty, President, CPMA 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.

Mr Kashi Nath Jha, Joint Secretary (Petrochemicals), Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India, stated that India can become world leader in the field of industry ready skilled workforce especially in petrochemical sector where CIPET can play a key role.