The government of India plans to set up plastics production parks nationwide in a bid to boost the production of plastic materials, according to a report from Industrial Info Resources (IIR), Sugar Land, Texas.
According to IIR, “The move is primarily aimed at making the downstream processes of the petrochemical sector globally competitive.”
The new initiative calls for much of the roughly 75 percent of the plastic processing industry in India that functions as independent small-scale industrial units to be housed in central plastic-manufacturing parks in each of the Indian states. The government says the new set-up will be based on a “cluster” model that has been pioneered in two Indian states for such industry sectors as food processing, textiles and automobile manufacturing.
More than $40 million will be invested at numerous sites that will range in size from 100 to 150 acres, according to IIR. The parks will host from 100 to 200 plastic processing companies and ideally will offer combined outputs of about 200 tons per month.
In addition to the “cluster” manufacturing initiative, IIR reports that India’s Chemicals and Fertilizer Ministry is urging plastics makers to explore potential export markets in Latin American, Africa and British Commonwealth nations.
The south Asian nation apparently has its eye on catching up with China, which exports as much as $22 billion in plastics each year. India, meanwhile, exported some $3.6 billion worth of material in the prior fiscal year, according to IIR. Possibly working against India is that its small-scale producers cannot fill large export orders from overseas customers the way that China’s sizable plants can.
It may be two years or more before the first of the plastic parks is completed. A feasibility report has been submitted to the Planning Commission of India, which is conducting a review process. In the meantime, at least three Indian states are beginning to follow up on the submitted plans in order to be first in line for the new plastics production zones.