'Draft national chemical policy next month'

MUMBAI: The draft national chemical policy is likely to be released next month for public discussion, a senior government official said today.

"The draft is still under formulation. However, it will soon be ready, mostly by next month, for public discussion," Secretary, ( Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Indrajit Pal today said.

The draft focuses on sustainable growth of the sector, he said, adding that it would cover pesticides, organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals and dyes among others, but not hydro-chemicals.

About 'Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region' (PCPIR), he said there are no land availability constraints, so small players are welcome to participate.

During the function, he released a CII report on the chemicals sector which says that main hindrance to its growth is the availability of raw materials and competitive pricing.

In the absence of competitive pricing, investments will flow to alternate destinations and the Indian markets will be more and more dependent on imports, the report said.

CII said in a press release that domestic specialty chemicals industry is expected to grow to USD 80 billion from USD 20 billion over the next decade.