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The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, with Invest India, held a CEO Roundtable on 24 August 2026 titled 'India's Chemicals Sector: Charting the Path to USD 1 Trillion by 2040', chaired by Union Minister Shri J.P. Nadda with Minister of State Smt. Anupriya Patel.
More than 100 delegates from over 30 global and Indian chemical companies - among them BASF, ExxonMobil, Dow, SABIC, Reliance, UPL, Haldia Petrochemicals and Fujifilm - sought upgradation of PCPIRs into full manufacturing hubs, a sovereign fund for technology acquisition, tax breaks to attract global talent, time-bound single-window clearances and a comprehensive National Feedstock Policy.
Invest India MD & CEO Ms Nivruti Rai said India's chemicals demand is growing at nearly twice the global rate on the strength of EVs, semiconductors, renewable energy and textiles, and that India could move from about 3 per cent of global chemicals production to 10 per cent; Odisha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh presented their own state investment packages.
Set up three dedicated Chemical Parks with integrated infrastructure for chemical, petrochemical, downstream and ancillary industry; announced in Union Budget 2026-27 and approved by the Union Cabinet in 2026
Key: Total outlay Rs. 3,030 crore - Rs. 3,000 crore for common infrastructure and utilities and Rs. 30 crore for administration; central support up to Rs. 1,000 crore per park against a minimum Rs. 500 crore state contribution; parks developed by State Governments through a Challenge Route; each park requires at least 8 sq km or 2,000 acres of contiguous, encumbrance-free land; implementation period FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31; plug-and-play facilities include effluent treatment, hazardous waste management, solvent recovery, steam networks and logistics
Create large integrated regions combining manufacturing, processing, services and residential use to attract major investment in petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals - the policy industry asked to have upgraded at this roundtable
Key: Policy Resolution issued by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on 4 April 2007; four PCPIRs approved - Dahej (Gujarat, 453 sq km), Vishakhapatnam-Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh, 640 sq km), Paradip (Odisha, 284.15 sq km) and Cuddalore-Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu, 256.83 sq km); Dahej alone has drawn over Rs. 1 lakh crore of investment, while the other three have lagged on land acquisition and infrastructure
Support need-based plastic parks with state-of-the-art infrastructure and common facilities on a cluster development approach
Key: Implemented by the DCPC under the umbrella New Scheme of Petrochemicals; grant of up to 50 per cent of project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs. 40 crore per project; 10 Plastic Parks approved so far
Foster research and development in polymers, plastics and new applications by anchoring research in leading academic institutions
Key: 13 Centres of Excellence set up in top institutes, also under the umbrella New Scheme of Petrochemicals of the DCPC
Reduce the chemicals sector's exposure to geopolitical and global supply-chain disruption in feedstock supply
Key: An industry recommendation recorded at this roundtable; the release describes it as a proposal for a comprehensive policy, not an existing scheme
Nodal department for the chemicals, petrochemicals and plastics industry - policy, PCPIRs, plastic parks, Centres of Excellence and the BHAVYA Rasayan chemical parks scheme; one of the three departments of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, alongside Fertilizers and Pharmaceuticals
India's National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency and first point of contact for global and domestic investors; provides pre-investment advisory, facilitation, aftercare and expansion support, closely tied to Make in India
Parent ministry, with three departments - Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Fertilizers, and Pharmaceuticals
Both were cited at the roundtable as reforms supporting manufacturing; critical minerals and rare earths feed directly into the battery, magnet and speciality-chemical value chains the sector is targeting.
Named among recent government pushes; gasification is a route to syngas-based chemicals and fertilizers and a way of easing the import dependence a National Feedstock Policy would address.
Industry's request for trade remedial measures points to anti-dumping and countervailing duties administered by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, reflecting import pressure in bulk chemicals.
The proposal for a sovereign fund to acquire technology cites South Korea and the USA; India's nearest comparable vehicle is the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, set up in 2015, whose mandate is infrastructure rather than technology acquisition.
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Industrial Policy and Manufacturing
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Economy
General Awareness > Industry, Investment and Government Schemes
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Industrial park and manufacturing-scheme questions recur in Prelims and in SSC general awareness.
Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region - a large delineated region for integrated petro-chemical manufacturing, created under the policy resolution of 4 April 2007 of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana - Rasayan; a Rs. 3,030 crore scheme approved in 2026 for three dedicated Chemical Parks developed by states through a Challenge Route.
The raw input - naphtha, natural gas, ethane and similar - fed into a petrochemical cracker or chemical plant; India imports much of it, which is why a National Feedstock Policy was sought.
High-value, low-volume chemicals sold for their function rather than their composition - agrochemicals, dyes, electronic chemicals - as distinct from bulk or commodity chemicals.