07 Sept 2009;business-standard.com:TE Narasimhan:Chennai: Following the volatility in crude oil prices and the global economic slowdown, the petrochemical sector has recorded 6.5 per cent growth rate in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan so far, compared with the government’s growth target of 12 per cent during the Plan period (2007-12). Bijoy Chatterjee, secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, said the sector had been witnessing decent growth across the world, starting with upstream petrochemicals, naphtha and gas-based crackers to downstream petrochemicals plastics, though India was yet to gather momentum. “There are signs of recovery and we are hopeful that by the end of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, we will be back on track,” he said on the sidelines of the International Plastics Exposition 2009, in Chennai. Chatterjee noted while the global production of petrochemicals is almost 40 per cent of the total production of chemicals, in India, the share of the petrochemical industry is only 20 per cent. Similarly, while the global polymer consumption is about 200 million tonnes (mt), the consumption level in India is only 6.2 mt, around 3 per cent of the global consumption. The official also noted that while the per capita consumption of polymers in India is 5.2 kg, the figure is 30 kg in China, and the world average is 25 kg. “Thus, although the centre for growth and development of petrochemicals has shifted to Asia, we (in India) still have to catch up with the rest of the world in polymer production and consumption,” Chatterjee added. To boost the industry, the government has taken two major initiatives, including the announcement of a National Policy on Petrochemicals, and Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs). The Policy aims to increase investment in the sector, both upstream and downstream, by creating quality infrastructure, increasing the domestic demand and per capita consumption of polymers and plastics, adding value to the domestic downstream plastic processing industry through modernisation, research and development, and achieving environmentally sustainable growth. The PCPIR is an initiative to promote petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals sectors in an integrated and environment-friendly manner on a large scale. It envisages provision of external, physical infrastructure linkages including rail, roads, airports, and co-siting of common facilities in a specific investment region.
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