Spotlight on Speciality Chemicals: CSB Bank partners with CRISIL Market Intelligence for landmark Chemical Industry Conference
In continuation of its thought leadership initiative ‘SME InFocus’ targeted at the SMEs across various industry sectors, private sector lender CSB Bank partnered with CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics (MI&A), The Indian Speciality Chemicals Manufacturers Association (ISCMA) and SME Communities to organise the Mumbai edition of its knowledge Series ‘SME InFocus’ on Chemical Industry for the SME entrepreneurs.
The Chemical Industry conference, organised in Mumbai recently, saw a heavy turnout of SME decision makers from amongst the chemical manufacturing segment. The industry participants were particularly enthused with the detailed and insightful presentation by the CRISIL MI&A team, that captured the latest trends in the Chemical Industry with specific reference to speciality chemicals along with the challenges and opportunities and the way forward for the sector.
Mr. Shyam Mani, Group Head, CSB Bank said, “Our aim is to empower SMEs in their journey of growth & stand committed as a preferred and partner Bank. This edition on chemical industry powered by CRISIL MI&A Research focusses on the demand, challenges and opportunities for SMEs in this sector. After successful events in Mumbai, Delhi, Coimbatore and Chennai we will continue to take this event across other locations of the country”
Mr. Sehul Bhatt, Director-Research, CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics said, “Indian chemical and chemical products industry, with ~8% share in GVA of manufacturing sector, is a critical part of the economy. Large domestic market, changing consumer preferences, growth in manufacturing sectors and increasing investment in emerging verticals provide long term growth opportunities. Within the sector, specialty chemical segment is likely to witness healthy momentum as companies focus on increasing research and development spend, value added portfolio and enhancing process adherence to environmental focussed practices.”
Mr. Vinay Patil, Immediate Past President of ISCMA said, ‘ISCMA strongly believes that the potential for the growth and opportunities for India in the global speciality chemicals market looks very optimistic. We at ISCMA are helping address the challenges of the industry players by providing a common platform and necessary support in terms of compliance on environmental issues, responsible care, safety and health, technology and skill upgradation and a host of other important issues. We will continue to work with policy makers, financial institutions and academia in the coming days, to make the Indian industry globally competitive.
Key top executives from CSB Bank shared their insights from a banking perspective with the attending industry heavyweights.
Mr. Manish Modi, Head Wholesale Banking, CSB Bank shared his thoughts on how SMEs and large enterprises in the chemical manufacturing segment can cope with a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) environment and emphasized the need for a comprehensive risk management policy which will help the industry players to hedge their risks.
Mr. Manish Aggarwal, Chief Credit Officer, CSB Bank, thoughtfully outlined the credit philosophy of the bank to the SME promoters and stressed the need for an ongoing dialogue with the industry to better understand their industry cycles and borrowing requirements.
Mr Sehul Bhatt and the CRISIL MI&A team shared several enriching insights on a host of topics like supply chain de-risking in contract manufacturing, export potential, import substitution, CMO/CDMO and backward integration, rising domestic demand and increase in consumer spending in their presentation. They shared a detailed overview on the industry outlook, highlighting the segmental share of chemicals, production growth of major chemicals and explaining how India has emerged as a preferred alternative for global players as they seek to diversify supply chains. The participants got a broad picture of the growth prospects of surfactants, agrochemicals, colourants, construction chemicals, polymer additives and textile chemicals.
Prominent members of industry body ISCMA formed the bulk of the attending delegates and wholeheartedly participated in the industry dialogue that formed the heart of the evening’s discussion.
Dr Yashwant Jhaveri, President ISCMA, emphasized the speciality chemicals industry’s demand for a highly skilled workforce and enumerated various initiatives undertaken by his association to address this important matter of competent and skilled labour in this era of global competitiveness.
Mr. Umasankar Mahapatra, Managing Director, Pulcra Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., shared his thoughts on how limited market access and distribution networks can hinder the ability of SMEs to reach broader customer bases and what can Indian SMEs in chemical industries do to broaden their client base thereby becoming more competitive in the world’s chemicals markets
Mr. Rajive Shah, Managing Director, Sauradip Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., spoke elaborately on how Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and managing patent-related issues can be challenging, particularly for SMEs with limited legal resources and how Indian SMEs could help increase our nation’s competitive edge in the speciality chemicals industry by focussing on innovative research & development.
Mr Prashant Laxmeshwar, Founder, SME Communities moderated a power packed panel discussion on the topic ‘Building Manufacturing Competitiveness in the Chemical Industry with Focus on Speciality Chemicals’. He thanked CSB Bank, CRISIL MI&A and ISCMA for coming together for this important industry initiative and mentioned that such knowledge conferences not only help the SMEs understand the bigger opportunities but also prove to be a valuable networking platform for SMEs with lenders, trade bodies, large corporate and industry peers.
The evening’s industry discussions were further bolstered with a lively discussion on how rapid technological advancements and digital transformation in the form of automation, Industry 5.0, and robotics are changing the world of speciality chemicals manufacturing. Important global regulations, industry compliance requirements on environmental sustainability and waste management which require SMEs to adopt greener practices were deliberated upon.
The evening ended on a high note, with Mr Shyam Mani, Group Head, CSB Bank pointing out that to ensure manufacturing competitiveness, timely access to capital is an extremely critical issue, often influencing SMEs’ ability to invest in advanced technologies, R&D, and capacity expansion and sharing his thoughts on how CSB Bank looks differently at this important aspect.
