Introduction
Covering more than 80,000 commercial products, India’s chemical industry is extremely diversified and can be broadly classified into bulk chemicals, specialty chemicals, agrochemicals, petrochemicals, polymers and fertilisers.
India accounts for ~16% of the world production of dyestuffs and dye intermediates. Indian colorants industry has emerged as a key player with a global market share of ~15%.
India’s proximity to the Middle East, the world’s source of petrochemicals feedstock, enables it to benefit on economies of scale.
Market Size
The Indian chemicals industry stood at US$ 178 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US$ 304 billion by 2025 registering a CAGR of 9.3%. The demand for chemicals is expected to expand by 9% per annum by 2025.
In September 2020, the production of key chemicals was 8,36,435 MT and petrochemicals was 17,26,502 MT.
The specialty chemicals constitute 22% of the total chemicals and petrochemicals market in India. The demand for specialty chemicals is expected to rise at a 12% CAGR in 2019-22. The petrochemicals demand is expected to record a 7.5% CAGR between 2019 and 2023, with polymer demand increasing at 8%. The agrochemicals market is expected to witness an 8% CAGR to reach US$ 3.7 billion by FY22 and US$ 4.7 billion by FY25.
In October 2020, exports of organic chemicals and inorganic chemicals increased by 2% on a y-o-y basis to reach US$ 1,812.22 million. For petrochemicals, imports of petroleum and crude products decreased by 39% on a y-o-y basis to reach US$ 3,44.1 million in October 2020.
Investments and Recent Developments
A few recent developments/investments in the Indian chemical sector are as follows:
Government Initiatives
The government has started various initiatives such as mandating BIS-like certification for imported chemicals to prevent dumping of cheap and substandard chemicals into the country.
The Indian government recognises chemical industry as a key growth element and forecast to increase share of the chemical sector to ~25% of the GDP in the manufacturing sector by 2025.
Road Ahead
Despite the current pandemic situation, the Indian chemical industry has numerous opportunities considering the supply chain disruption in China and trade conflict among the US, Europe and China. Anti-pollution measures in China will also create opportunities for the Indian chemical industry in specific segments.
Additional support, in terms of fiscal incentives, such as tax breaks and special incentives through PCPIRs or SEZs to encourage downstream units will enhance production and development of the industry.
To bring about structural changes in the working of domestic chemical industry, future investments should not only focus on transportation of fuels such as petrol and diesel, but also on crude-to-chemicals complexes or refineries set up to cater to the production of chemicals.
Note: Conversion rate used for November 2020 is Rs. 1 = US$ 0.013
References: RBSA Advisors, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, India Chem report 2020, Dyestuffs Manufacturers Association of India
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
Covering more than 80,000 commercial products, India’s chemical industry is extremely diversified and can be broadly
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