S Subramanian, Executive Director Chlorochemicals Division, Chemplast Sanmar Limited and President-ICMA, said at the Annual General Meeting of Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association (ICMA), held at Mumbai in September 1999, that domestic consumption of chemicals was expected to improve this year as there was growth in demand in most products.
The economy seems to have come out of the sluggishness of 1998-99 and most chemical companies have shown good results in the first quarter of 1999-2000. This is especially true for agrochemicals, fertilizers, polymers and organic chemicals. Dipak Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, said that chemical manufacturers should strictly adhere to pollution control and other environmental norms.
He also said that companies that tried to cut costs by not following the standard norms to control pollution would have to face severe consequences. About the future prospects for the chemical industry, he said, that technical skills should be used more efficiently to face the threats of the future.
Ravimohan, Managing Director, CRISIL, told the gathering that the key challenges that the domestic chemical industry would face in the future would include globalisation, declining tariffs, consolidation of capacities, environmental issues and financing. To meet these challenges, Ravimohan said that both technical and financial alliances should be sound, competitiveness should be improved and capacity utilisation maximised through closure of unviable units.
Sandra Shroff, Chairperson, ICMA (WR), S Subramanian, President, ICMA and Dipak Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.