“Making the Impossible of Yesterday Possible Tomorrow”: Indian Chemical Council Focuses on Resilience and Reinvention at their 18th Annual Conference

Mumbai, 5th March 2025: The Indian Chemical Council (ICC), the apex national body of the Indian chemical industry, successfully hosted the 18th Annual India Chemical Industry Outlook Conference and Exhibition, with the theme “Engineering the Future: Reinventing the Indian Chemicals Sector for Enhanced Resilience,” at Hotel J W Marriott, Mumbai. The event is a key platform for policymakers, industry leaders, and investors as India’s $220 billion chemical industry gears up to surpass $1 trillion by 2040, reinforcing the nation’s position as a global chemical hub.

The conference and exhibition saw over 700 delegates and speakers attending over the two days, with leaders of the Chemical and Petrochemical industry. The esteemed speakers included Shri Deepankar Aron, IRS, Government of India; Mr Marco Mensink, Director General, CEFIC; and Dr. Ilham Kadri, President, ICCA.

Delegates were able to network and have one-on-one interactions with leaders in the chemical industry, exchanging new ideas around the theme of resilience and reinvention.

The second day of the event, with the theme, Accelerating Growth: Strategies for Innovation and Resilience in India’s Chemical Sector, started with a recap of the previous day’s sessions, and more global leaders took the stage to deliver keynote addresses on the state of the chemical industry and the future expectations of the industry. Chemicals and petrochemicals are key to achieving the goals outlined in the second day’s introductory session.

Mr Kamal Nanavati, Chairman of the Conference & Exhibition Expert Committee, ICC, outlined yesterday’s program recap: “We set the stage for how the industry has to improve as 2025 starts and onwards till 2030. Highlighting a key driver for our industry, global competitiveness is going to encourage the chemical industry as we go along. Mr. Chris Musso, Senior Partner from McKinsey & Co in Denver, gave a global outlook on the chemical sector and market and the importance of global collaboration. The standout moment of the day was a session on the Chinese journey and the chemical sector. I believe the conversation with Mr. Sheng Hong, Senior Partner from McKinsey & Co in Shanghai, was a fascinating dialogue that we had along with the white papers.”

Dr Ilham Kadri, President, International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) & CEO, Syensqo, Belgium, who was present as the Global Chief Guest, stressed collective commitment to furthering the chemical industry. She mentioned, “With the new world tariffs and free trade agreements, India has a unique advantage in collaborating with European companies while putting industry at the top of the political agenda. Chemical companies have a vital role in reimagining chemistry and advancing humanity. With the decades of experience with what we have in-house, augmented by data and Gen AI, we can position ourselves as a one-stop, advanced material partner ready to tackle the most demanding challenges and needs.”

Shri Deepankar Aron, IRS, Joint Secretary, Chemicals, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Government of India, in his address called upon the industry to promote the chemical industry as a whole, and stressed the importance of encouraging young minds to join the industry, bringing new thought and new talent to the space. He also spoke on the importance of circularity and helping curb climate change in association with the chemical industry. He said, “The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has taken the Panchamrit pledge, a 5-point pledge towards climate change, one of which is committing to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. We need to explore partnerships and ventures to ensure that the old world rules and division without the barriers of IPR and loyalty fund is safe.”

Professor Ravi Gudi, Dean ACR & Professor, IIT Bombay, and AI and ML Chair Professor, highlighted the importance of collaboration between industry and academia. He said, “IIT Bombay offers an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels to teach them how to think, and an incubator to develop their ideas and to ensure that their academic research matures into opportunities to commercialise, which have often been successful in the market. These entrepreneurs then return to offer their skills in the research part of the process.”

The ICC is a full member of International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). As the member of International Council of Chemical associations, ICC is the nodal agency promoting Responsible Care (RC) in India, a global voluntary initiative of the chemical sector to continually strive to enhance health, safety, security and environmental performance. As such, Indian companies were awarded the RC Logo Certificates for their work in safety and security for their employees and the earth.

The ICC Conference sets the stage for a new era of resilience and reinnovation. Using the expertise and creativity of the attending experts and delegates, the chemical industry in India strides towards the goal of achieving USD 1 Trillion in the journey to Viksit Bharat.