NEW DELHI, 05 October 2026: Ms Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt of India today while addressing the launch of ‘India Chem 2026’, organized by FICCI, jointly with the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, GoI said that if we align the 5 government initiative including the Critical Mineral Mission, Rare Earth Corridor, India Semiconductor Mission along with the National Manufacturing Mission, India will not be just a country which will be able to rise from being a $ 230 billion chemicals industry to $ 1 trillion by 2040. “We will be world’s battery chemicals, specialty chemicals as well as the semiconductor chemical factories,” she added.
Ms Patel further stated that the Department is already pursuing the Department of Science and Technology to declare chemicals and petrochemicals as a priority sector so that it will be covered under the new Research Development Innovation Scheme (RDIS) which has an outlay of about 1 lakh crore. “We want India to develop a self-reliant economy by 2047, and we have identified manufacturing as a very important element in this journey. We want to advance our manufacturing mission, and chemicals and petrochemical sector can play an important role in this. The government wants to create an enabling ecosystem and infrastructure is the priority,” she emphasized.
The Minister urged industry to increase spending on R&D along with adopting newer technologies. The global chemicals R&D spending, between 2012 and 2022, has gone up from $38 billion to $71 billion but India's share is around 3 per cent. “We want to create an environment where investment in R&D is encouraged and we also have to adopt strategies by which we can both attract and retain talent that can help our industry to compete at the global frontiers,” she highlighted.
Speaking on the BHAVYA Rasayan Scheme, the Minister said that it should be viewed as just an infrastructure program, but it is an attempt to create an environment in which chemicals and petrochemicals industry can innovate, invest and expand. “The guidelines are out and the new 3 chemical parks will be under the new scheme. It is time for industry to engage with the state governments and timely submit the proposals,” she added.
Mr Tejveer Singh, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India said that dedicated chemical parks is now close to seeing reality and we have issued detailed guidelines for the same. “3 dedicated chemical parks will be setup each with a financial contribution of Rs 1,000 crore by the government and Rs 500 crore by the respective states. These parks will have best in class facilities including plug and play, proper infrastructure and other facilities so that we are able to bring efficiencies in the cost of production,” he added.
Mr Singh further stated that the Department is working with DPIIT on import substitution program in which chemical and petrochemical sector is included. “The chemical sector forms the bedrock of India’s economic growth and development. We need to improve investment in R&D as it is imperative for any sector’s growth,” he emphasized.
