India’s specialty chemical industry –within the fastest-developing segments — is strengthening its worldwide foothold as policymakers and industry leaders demand for deeper collaboration, capacity expansion, and decrease import dependence.
The momentum was bought into focus at the current India Speciality Chemicals Conclave organized via ASSOCHAM, in which government officials and industry stakeholders mapped out the sector’s next phase of development.
Introducing the policy signal, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Government of India, Tejveer Singh, warned that global uncertainty is reshaping supply chains and making self-reliance urgent.
Speaking at the event, he stated, “The West Asia crisis has triggered massive supply chain disruptions and in an age of global uncertainty, it’s is vital for the specialty chemicals sector to be comparatively more self-reliant.
“This sector accounts for the second largest massive ticket import bill after the petroleum sector and our trade balance has grown considerably since the turn of the century. The significance of this sector can’t be overemphasized as it sustains the whole industrial edifice of the nation.”
He also explained most important policy and infrastructure moves, including: “In line with the budget declaration, three dedicated chemical parks are being set up with the minimal area of around 8 square kilometres and allocation of 1000 crore each spread over a 5-year period.
“The 18 centres of excellence that have been installed in numerous technical institutions of the nation are doing exciting work and the industry should interact with them for better industry – academia interactions.
“Industry data collection for the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s index of industrial manufacturing will now be monthly and the data point have been elevated from 245 units to about 400 units for the index to be fully representative.”
Industry leaders echoed the urgent need for expansion.
Delivering the opening remarks, Sagar Kaushik, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Chemicals & Petrochemicals stated, “A excellent journey to move the chemicals which includes specialty chemicals sector is underway to acquire the focused to $1 trillion in output by 2040.
“The journey will need exceptional levels of capacity creation due to the fact we’ve a developing captive requirement and we risk a developing import basket if we unable to service the requirement. The industry require a level playing field to unlock our potential to fulfill developing demands.”
Trade policy issues also surfaced, with Kapil Malhotra, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Chemicals & Petrochemicals, cautioning towards imbalanced agreements.
“FTAs with smaller third world nations, although they’ll be advanced can result in expansion in trade deficits due to the fact they not have a big Market but for them India is a very massive market. They have to come in a form where there is a win-win scenario for both the nations who are participating.”
Emphasizing resilience amid global headwinds, Nilesh A. Kulkarni, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Chemicals, stated, ” In 2025, our domestic trajectory stayed very resilient.
“India’s chemical marketplace was developing towards a projected 250 to 300 billion milestone by 2030. The West Asia crisis has shown us that we’re within the midst of margin compressions because there’s destocking, there is capacity dumping from China and other nations. We want to ensure our feed to downstream speciality chemical sector to construct high value products and growth our self-reliance.”
The conclave also saw the release of a joint knowledge report via PricewaterhouseCoopers and ASSOCHAM, strengthening theme of innovation, export-led growth, and sustainable production practices.
Across discussions, one message stood out: India’s specialty chemicals sector is no longer just developing —it’s positioning itself as a strategic pillar of industrial development, resilience, and global competitiveness.
