India Chemical Delegation Visits Houston to encourage bilateral trade

A delegation, led by Mr. Pratyush Sinha, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, visited Houston on September 15 and 16th.

Their main purpose was to encourage U.S companies to explore business opportunities in the Indian Chemical sector, consisting of Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Machinery / R&D / Process Control & Automation

Mr. Sinha said that, today the Indian chemicals industry is at the crossroads. The existing technology needs to be upgraded with the help of foreign partners. The Indian chemical industry is ready to engage in strategic partnerships to realize its latent potential.

Mr. Sinha’s associate Ms. Vinoo Gupta reviewed India’s economic liberalization program, started in late 80’s.

Over the last decade the government of India:
• Eliminated the “License” Raj
• Drastically cut import tariffs from 100%+ to 15-20%
• Integrated India with the Global Economy
• Began concerted development of knowledge-based economy
• Implemented fiscal and monetary policy reforms
• Began privatizing government entities
• Increased allowable Foreign Direct Investment in many sectors to 100%
• Reduced corporate taxes to 35%
• Relaxed currency restrictions and allowed full repatriation of dividends and capital

The net impact of economic liberalization has been dramatic.
• India is the 4th largest economy in the world in terms of the Purchasing Power Parity.
• India has the second fastest growth rate in the last decade, where its economy grew by nearly 6% per year. According to a forecast by Goldman Sachs, India will be able to average 6% per year growth rate for the next decade, surpassing Chinese growth rate by 2015.
• Last year, the Indian economy grew at a blazing 8% rate.
• India’s middle class has surpassed 300 million people and is growing at a double digit rate
• India runs a significant foreign exchange surplus

For the Chemical Industry, the conditions are even more favorable. Along with Information Technology and Biotechnology, this is the third “thrust” area for India’s economic growth. The chemical demand growth is twice the GDP, most raw materials are available locally, tariffs are low, 100% Foreign Direct Investment is allowed and no government license is required to start a business or build a manufacturing facility.


India offers many sustainable competitive advantages for the Chemical industry:
1. Large and fast-growing domestic market
2. Easy availability of most raw materials
3. Low conversion costs
4. Highly educated, English-speaking workforce, especially strong in Scientific research and Engineering; working for significantly lower wages
5. Dramatically improving infrastructure
6. Vibrant private sector and heavy chemical industry concentration around Western India offer many opportunities for raw materials and intermediate trading
7. USA is the largest trading partner of India
8. Real-time communication capability
9. Continuity of fiscal and monetary policies, and a strong consensus on economic development between major political parties (the economic liberalization program was initiated in the late 80’s by Mr. Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister).
10. Indian legal system is based on British Common Law

A study by an international consulting firm showed that, over the last decade, Direct Foreign Investment has provided very attractive net profit margins of over 15%.

You can review the full presentation by visiting Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston at www.iaccgh.com.

If you are interested in further exploring business opportunities in India, and see for yourself, India’s great potential and lack of bureaucratic roadblocks, you have two options:
1. Consider participating in or visiting INDIA CHEM 2004, scheduled to start on November 3 in Mumbai. This is the largest trade show for the chemical industry in India. It invites manufacturers and exporters of chemicals to showcase their latest products, machinery and production processes; as well as to showcase specialized services like technology transfer, adaptation and upgradation.
You will meet buyers from India and other countries, looking for suppliers of plant machinery, process control equipment and sourcing requirements.
In addition, the event will facilitate one-to-one business meetings and networking opportunities at a truly international level that will pave the way for investment, joint ventures, project collaborations and setting up of an R&D base in India.
For more information, visit their website at:
http://www.trade-india.com/dyn/gdh/alliance/india_chem/india_chem_exhibitor.html

2. If you cannot attend India Chem 2004, please contact the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Basic Chemicals (www.ficci.com) or Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (www.chemexcil.gov.in) for further information, economic statistics and names of Indian companies of interest.


Mr. Sinha was a keynote speaker at the Flexpo 2004 Conference on New Innovations in Polyolefins & Elastomers, hosted by Chemical Market Resources, Inc. on the 15th of September (www.cmrhoutex.com). Dr. Balaji Singh, president of Chemical Market Resources Inc., the only Indian owned Global chemical consulting company in the United States was proud to host the Indian chemical delegation..

On the 16th, Mr. Sinha and his colleagues, Ms. Vinoo Gupta from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Mr. Krishan Kara and Mr. Vinay Mathur from FICCI, and Mr. Satish Wagh from Chemexcil, addressed a group of local business people at a meeting hosted by Pat Foley and Sunil Sharma of the GHP. This meeting was arranged jointly by the Greater Houston Partnership (www.houston.org), the Indian Consulate (www.cgihouston.org) and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (www.iaccgh.com).
The visit to Houston was a great success courtesy the efforts of IACCGH (thanks to Raj Mashruwala ) and the Indian Consulate in Houston. If you would like more information on business opportunities in India please contact the IACCGH at 713 624 7131 or by email at iaccgh01@aol.com



Caption to photographs
Deputy Consul General R L Koli with the delegates from India: