Mumbai, 19^th December 2017: The 3^rd Edition of CAPINDIA 2018, under the aegis of the Department of Commerce, Government of India (GOI), supported by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GOI and organised jointly by PLEXCONCIL, CHEMEXCIL, CAPEXIL & SHEFEXIL, is one of the largest sourcing and networking events for the Chemicals, Plastics, Construction & Mining Industries and Allied Products. The State of Gujarat is the State Partner for CAPINDIA 2018. This expansive ‘Make in India’ showcase of India’s manufacturing capacities and capabilities (including its abilities to service overseas markets) will be held from 22^nd to 24^th March 2018 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. The initiative is a showcase of the country’s world-class manufacturing capabilities and capacities and aims to enhance exports of Indian manufactured products.

The 3-day exhibition will be spread over 18,000 sq. mt and will host 700+ manufacturers/exporters, who will showcase hundreds of products, including a range of Industrial & Agricultural Raw Materials, Consumer Items, Packaging Items, Plastics Processing Machinery and Construction Materials, Mining Products amongst others. CAPINDIA will host 400 International buyers from across the globe who are being invited to attend the Buyer Seller Meets being organized as part of the Government’s MAI Scheme to promote key export segments through platforms that foster closer trade collaboration between Indian manufacturers-exporters and target countries.

The show is expected to receive over 10,000 visitors comprising Domestic & Overseas buyers, International Agents and Distributors seeking market representation from Indian exporters, End Users seeking raw materials for captive consumption, Private Label Buyers, Merchant Exporters, Industrial and Marketing Consultants, Central and State Government Departments & Agencies and many more.

Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Hon. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, said, “As part of the country's policy initiatives on increasing India's Import-Export ratio it is essential to focus on substantially increase the contribution of foreign trade to the GDP. I would like to congratulate the four export promotion Councils - PLEXCONCIL, CHEMEXCIL, CAPEXIL & SHEFEXIL for organising CAPINDIA 2018, one of the largest sourcing events for the Chemicals, Plastics, Construction, Mining and Allied IndustriesOn behalf of our Ministry and the Government of India, we applaud the initiatives and efforts of the Export Promotion Councils as well as urge the leading Indian companies in plastics, chemicals, construction, mining and allied products exports to extend their whole-hearted support, participate at CAPINDIA 2018 and be a part of this collective effort.”

Mr. Pradip Thakkar, Chairman, PLEXCONCIL, said, “CAPINDIA 2018 is a very significant show for our members as we target to cross the US$ 8 billion mark in 2017-18. Plastics are among the fastest growing industries in India experiencing a double-digit growth rate on an average.  The Indian Plastics industry offers immense potential in terms of capacity, infrastructure and skilled manpower. India is currently ranked among the top five consumers of polymers in the world and has 30,000+ plastic processing units employing over four million people across the country. The current trend in India’s plastic exports seems highly encouraging.

During the first half of 2017-18, our plastics exports witnessed a positive growth of 9.7% to US$ 4.09 billion, on account of increased exports to Latin America & Caribbean (+31.7%), European Union (+18.8%), North America (14.4%), and Africa (+12.3%). The growth achieved so far in 2017-18, is significant as we have set ourselves an export target of US$ 8.31 billion for the entire year 2017-18. We are delighted to share that India’s plastics export to United States, the largest destination, continues to tread higher and is most likely to cross the coveted US$ 1 billion mark in 2017-18 at current pace. As far as our foreign trade is concerned, we continue to focus on the export of value-added plastics from India, which formed 66% of our overall plastics exports of USD 7.56 billion in 2016-17. The global export market for plastics is a huge ocean of opportunities (US$ 800 billion upwards) and our share in this ocean is quite negligible (less than 1.0%). Given the immense opportunity presented, our members must make the best use of various export promotion activities such as CAPINDIA made available by our Government through the Council.”

Mr. Satish Wagh, Chairman, CHEMEXCIL, said, “CAPINDIA 2018 will be bigger and better than ever before and will be attended by Domestic/ Export Trade, Overseas Buyers from across the globe, Industry Leaders, Government Officials and Policy makers, Consultants and opinion builders, Education and R&D Experts, OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), Investors, MSME/ SME Entrepreneurs and many more. We hope, CAPINDIA will help us tap immense opportunities for growth, which exist in the fields of specialty chemicals, polymers and agrochemicals industries as ‘Make in India’ initiative further facilitates growth and investment”.

CHEMEXCIL's panel-wise exports were US$ 12.15 bn in 2016-17 and April-Sept 2017-18. It has already posted 26.8% y-o-y growth amounting in exports valued at US$ 7.19 bn. The Indian chemicals industry with a market size of US$ 145 billion is the seventh largest producer of chemicals worldwide and the third largest producer in Asia after China and Japan. It is a capital-intensive industry which employs approx. 2 Mn people in India. India is the third largest producer of agro chemicals globally and exports 50% of its production. Specialty chemicals market has been growing at 14% over the last five years due to domestic consumption and the market size is expected to touch US$ 70 billion by 2020. CAPINDIA will help us tap immense opportunities for growth, which exist in the fields of specialty chemicals, polymers and agrochemicals industries as ‘Make in India’ initiative further facilitates growth and investment.”

Mr. R. Veeramani, President, CAPEXIL, said, “CAPINDIA 2018 Exhibition is slated to be one of India’s largest global sourcing shows for products in our business. CAPINDIA 2018 will be significant as it is the first mega industry event following Union Budget FY2019 and the implementation of GST, which will have a significant bearing on targeted exports in sync with the Government’s vision for Year 2022.  The export target fixed for CAPEXIL products is US$ 16.18 billion for the year 2017-18 which marks a substantial growth in exports compared to US$ 14.71 bn in 2016-17. In 2016-17, exports of Minerals and Ores grew 25.89% and Non-Minerals Products grew 4.77% respectively compared to 2015-16. We also see lot of potential in certain panels, which showed positive export growth during 2016-17 such as Bulk Minerals and Ores, Granite, Natural Stone and Products, Processed Minerals Products, Ceramic and Allied Products, Paper, Paper Board Products, Paints, Printing Ink and Allied Products, Plywood and Allied Products and Cement, Clinkers and Asbestos Cement Products.”

Mr. S. K. Ghosh, Chairman of Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (SHEFEXIL), said, “The much awaited third CAPINDIA 2018, jointly organized by CHEMEXCIL, PLEXCONCIL, CAPEXIL and SHEFEXIL, under the umbrella of the Department of Commerce, Government of India (GOI), and supported by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GOI, is a marquis event, arguably the country’s largest sourcing and networking programme  for the Chemicals, Plastics, Construction & Mining Industries and Allied Products segments”. Mr. Ghosh informed that SHEFEXIL’s frontline products to be exhibited at CAPINDIA 18 would cover items like Shellac and Lac Products, Guar Gum Powder, Tamarind Kernel Powder, medicinal Herbs/Extracts, Aleuritic acid, etc. Commenting on SHEEXIL’S export performance, he said, “Continuing with the positive growth exhibited by India’s export segment for the last twelve months, the figures for August 2017 have shown a growth of 10.29% in dollar terms valued at USD 23.8 billion as compared with USD 21.6 billion during August,2016”.

SHEFEXIL’S panel-wise exports stood at US$ 2.43 billion in 2016-17, representing 4.4% of the world potential. During August 2017, total exports of products under SHEFEXIL climbed 28.2% to 72127.16 MT from 56271.54 MT in August 2016. Cumulatively, the highest export growth was registered by Guar Gum, which was up 84.1%.