Mumbai, Oct 22 Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that Maharashtra is in the final stage of formulating a separate policy for the chemicals sector and will unveil the same by the first week of November.
The state is also aiming to acquire up to 5,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the greenfield Wadhavan port on the outskirts of Mumbai and develop it as a hub for the chemicals sector, Fadnavis said at an industry event organised by FICCI here.
“We are in the last stage of making a dedicated chemicals industry policy. Hopefully, in the first week of November we will roll out the policy,” Fadnavis said.
He added that it will be a “forward policy” designed to aid in the growth of the critical sector for many years to come.
The government has interacted widely with the chemicals industry over the last few months and understood their demands, Fadnavis said, assuring that the same will get incorporated in the policy document.
He specifically mentioned Reliance Industries’ executive director Nikhil Meswani and UPL chairman Jai Shroff as among the industry leaders who have been consulted by the Maharashtra government.
Fadnavis also exuded confidence that the investors will respond by taking bigger bets on the chemical sector in Maharashtra after the unveiling of the policy in early November.
The state recognised the need to have a dedicated policy for the chemicals sector after unveiling the industrial policy last year, he said.
At present, there are 3,600 entities engaged in the chemicals sector in Maharashtra, which account for 19 per cent of the chemicals sector’s gross value added (GVA) and 17 per cent of chemical exports, the CM said, adding that the sector employs 3 lakh people at present.
He said the state can play an important role in the sector, given the fact that the country’s largest container port, JNPA, is located in Maharashtra itself.
Stating that the Wadhavan port will be ready in about three years, he announced a plan to develop a dedicated chemicals ecosystem in close proximity to the greenfield port in the Palghar district.
“The government of India has announced Bhavya rasayan parks. We will try to acquire 2,500-5,000 acres around the (Wadhavan) port for the chemicals sector to establish a Bhavya rasayanik park,” he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Chemicals J P Nadda, who also spoke at the event, said that this is the most “conducive” time for the sector, where all the necessary ingredients for growth, including the right policies and people guiding the sector.
The sector is at USD 220 billion today, and the aim is to take it to USD 1 trillion by 2040, he said.
Better connectivity will be among the factors which will aid the sector’s growth, he said.
In a message to investors, Nadda assured that the government will take care of getting environmental clearances for upcoming projects as part of its duty to facilitate capacity expansions.
He also appealed to the industry to give due focus to research and development, and apprised that advanced chemicals and petrochemicals are included in a newly launched Rs 1 lakh crore fund for promoting research and innovation.
(PTI News)
