‘Investment opportunity of $30 bn in petchem sector over next 10 yrs’
New Delhi: India offers investment opportunity of $30 billion in the petrochemical sector over the next decade as the world’s third largest energy consumer looks to meet growing demand, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.
Addressing Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference 2023 here, the minister highlighted that the size of the Indian chemical and petrochemcial sector is around $190 billion and it is poised for transformational growth.
He rued that the per capita consumption is still low as compared to developed economies.
Puri noted that the petrochemical sector has made a significant progress in recent years, becoming one of the largest producers of petrochemical products in the world.
“The market size of the Indian chemical and petrochemical sector I’m told is about $190 billion. The per capita consumption of various chemical products and segments is significantly lower compared to the developed economies. And this gap offers substantial space for demand growth and investment opportunities,” he said.
The minister said the chemicals and petrochemicals demand in India is expected to nearly triple and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2040.
“There is a potential investment opportunity of $30 billion in next decade in petrochemical sector. And the government of India is proactively addressing the present challenges and implementing several flagship initiatives to improve the overall competitiveness quality and output of the industry,” he said. Stating that this sector supports the Prime Minister’s initiative of ‘Make in India’ and make for the world, Puri said that the chemical and petrochemicals sector can transform India into a global manufacturing hub.
“India today is not only the sixth largest chemical producer in the world, and the fourth in Asia, but also exports chemicals to more than 175 countries. It accounts for 13 per cent of India’s total exports,” he added.
The minister noted that the growth of the petrochemical industry in India has been driven by several factors, including increasing demand for such products from a growing population and a rapidly expanding economy.