The title itself is a very famous statement from the popular comedy TV series "Friends". I am using the context to say hi, how you doing? to everyone in the chemical industry, whether it be the process engineers, researchers, PR Departments, CEO or the decision makers of the company. Well, this is not a flirtatious statement but it is more inclined to introduce myself as the promoter of the portal chemicalmarket.net. I would love to get a hello back and let us know your concerns in the chemical industry and we will help you reach out to the masses. There are several things yet to work on but ultimate goal is to connect everyone in the chemical industry as our tag line says "Connecting the chemical industry together!"

Today, I will discuss with you a few things about how the industry is doing in India? The number of orders that are bagged by chemical companies in 2024 is growing and as India leaps towards being the manufacturing hub of the world, this number will keep on increasing whether it is in the pharmaceuticals sector, the chemical sector or the energy sector. For example, the amount of interest shown by customers from Anupam Rasayan has been around Rs. 8000 crores and have already added orders worth Rs. 4000 crores.

Recently, Vipul Organics Total Revenues in Q3 of 2023-2024 stood at Rs. 3761 lakhs, up 38.88% from Q3 of 2022-23. Total Revenues in Nine Months Ended 31st December 2023 stood at Rs. 11044.99 Lakh, up 7.59% from the Nine Months ended on 31st of December 2022. Commenting on the results, Mr. Vipul Shah, Managing Director, Vipul Organics Limited, said: “The green shoots in the economy are reflected in our results. We are back on our growth trajectory, post the economic shocks of COVID. In this quarter, we also lay the foundation stone for our new facility at Sayakha which will be revenue accretive from F.Y. 2025-26. While global macro-economic factors are still a concern, we are seeing a robust demand for our products in the domestic market. Our newer offerings in sectors like Paper and Textiles are seeing huge traction and we are hoping for orders in the coming quarters”.

Godrej Agrovet reported consolidated revenues from operations of Rs. 7,426.3 crores in 9M FY24 as compared to Rs. 7,278.7 crores in 9M FY23, a growth of 2.0% year-on-year. Q3 FY24 Profit after tax* increased to Rs. 84.6 crore from Rs. 67.0 crore in Q3 FY23, a growth of 26.3% year-on-year. In Q3 FY24, the Company reported consolidated revenues from operations of Rs. 2,345.2 crores as compared to Rs. 2,323.5 crores in Q3 FY23.

Also a major change is happening in the geo-political world with regards to the petrochemical industry. According to Valina Tchakarova post on X (formerly Twitter), one of the most overlooked megatrends with serious geopolitical ramifications is that the US has not only become the top oil producer but also one of the greatest combined oil and gas exporters worldwide. And that means that the US has become a direct energy rival of Russia. As per reply from Vendata Chairman Mr. Anil Agarwal, India has the ability to produce low cost oil which can be as less as $10 per barrel. Currently, the cost ranges from $70 to $80 per barrel. According to him, higher domestic production will benefit the people of the country and will lead to more affordable gas cylinders, a lot of new jobs will be created and thus lead to a huge foreign exchanges reserves that is used to import oil will be saved and can be invested in infrastructure and development of the people. I would surely like to add here, that though it would lead to that for the short term, but the longer term objective should be to build electric vehicles infrastructure and hydrogen powered vehicles and trains. Out of the total amount saved by producing in India and saving foreign exchanges, some percentage of the savings should be used to build this infrastructure and invest in renewal energy. The amount of money that will be invested in building batteries for cars, battery mega packs, build solar and wind farms, thermal and hydra power plants which will ultimately be recovered in the long run due to its renewable nature.

Praj Industries is one such company which focuses on sustainable bio fuel. Hon Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently inaugurated Praj's Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) demonstration facility at its R&D Center in Pune. Praj has developed a proprietary technology to process  agricultural feedstock for the production of SAF that can be blended with Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). The hard to abate Aviation Industry is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels and also an emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). According to the India Brand Equity Foundation 2023 report, the government has set a target to operationalize 1000 UDAN routes and to revive 100 airports by 2024. Thus, India is the third largest and fastest-growing civil aviation market in the World. The low carbon SAF has a significant role in helping India achieve its net zero goal targets by 2070.

On a side note, there are several exhibitions coming up soon. Paint India will start from 22nd Feb 2024 to 24th Feb in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Same dates Salt India is in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.