"India's Chemical Sector Advances Toward 2040 Global Leadership Goal"

Godrej Industries Group (GIG) recently hosted the second edition of the "National Chemistry Day" Summit. Building on the success and momentum generated by the first summit, this joint initiative was realized by GIG companies Godrej Industries (Chemicals) and Astec LifeSciences. The summit brought together industry leaders, academia, and research professionals to address innovative trends and technologies reshaping modern chemistry and discussed how India's chemical industry can capitalize on these opportunities.

India's chemical sector is advancing on a strong growth curve, increasing its strategic importance and establishing the country as a reliable global hub for chemical production. India, one of the few sectors with potential to become a global leader, is projected to capture 10–12% of the global market share by 2040 if innovation, R&D, and policy support continue in a coordinated manner. In this direction, this year's summit theme was set as "Driving Innovation and Growth in India's Chemical Industry." The summit provided an important platform to reflect the sector's momentum and encourage conversations aimed at strengthening India's innovation ecosystem, R&D capabilities, and global competitive strength through collaboration.

Godrej Industries Group Chairman Nadir Godrej made the following statement regarding the summit:
"Chemistry has always played a fundamental role in shaping society. In organizing the second edition of National Chemistry Day, it became clear once again how critical forward-looking conversations are to unlock India's potential in this field. This summit is an initiative to share ideas and not only participate in the global chemistry economy but also explore together ways to steer it responsibly and sustainably."

Two separate panel discussions took place at the summit. Vishal Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of Godrej Industries Limited (Chemicals), moderated a panel on building competitiveness in India's chemical industry, while Burjis Godrej, Managing Director of Godrej Agrovet Ltd. and General Manager of Astec LifeSciences Ltd., moderated a panel addressing the role of R&D in driving industry growth. Panelists emphasized the importance of accelerating innovation, increasing value-added production, and strengthening academia-industry collaborations.

As part of the summit, the first edition of the data-driven CTIER Innovation Report, titled "Industry in India: Followers or Leaders?", was unveiled, which benchmarked leading R&D firms in India against global competitors in terms of critical innovation parameters.

The event was attended by many leading figures including Padma Vibhushan Prof. M.M. Sharma, Dr. Naushad Forbes (Forbes Marshall), Amit Gandhi (BCG India), Aashish Kasad (Ernst & Young), Vivek Save (Deccan Fine Chemicals), Prof. Santosh J. Gharpure (IIT Bombay), Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch (Bayer CropScience Ltd.), Janak Nabar (CTIER), Aman Das (Syensqo India), Nitin Sharma (Clariant IGL Specialty Chemicals), Dr. Alok Sharma (Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.), and Sunil Kumar (Henkel India).

The summit concluded by demonstrating that India's chemical industry stands on the threshold of a new era of innovation and global leadership. The ideas that emerged and discussions initiated at the event are expected to drive meaningful change, shape progressive policies, and pave the way for stronger industry-wide collaborations. This initiative, spearheaded by Godrej Industries Group, once again demonstrated the group's commitment to sustainable innovation and national development.

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