The increased outlay for healthcare and the fund for vaccination in the budget will boost polymer consumption with requirements of syringes and other polymer based healthcare products, and in general, the requirement of petrochemicals and polymers, required in a range of sectors, will also increase and boost domestic demand with increased government spending.
The roll out of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for key end-use sectors will boost petrochemical consumption in the country, the ministry of chemical and fertilizers said in a press release.
Among the sectors earmarked, seven sectors—including mobile phone manufacturing, auto and components, medical devices, textile products—use significant quantity of petrochemicals. The estimated outlay of Rs. 1.41 lakh crores augurs well for the petrochemical industry growth, the ministry said.
The massive emphasis on infrastructure spending is expected to result in additional consumption of petrochemicals like polymers and specialty chemicals. Also, Agriculture focused measure like doubling of outlay for micro-irrigation to Rs. 10,000 crores will further fuel demand for polymer based irrigation products and services.
The synthetic industry has welcomed increase in import duty on raw cotton. This will support farmers to get better remuneration on cotton production and also eliminate cheap imports coming from neighboring countries. As such India is surplus of cotton and rather than exporting cotton.
Industry also welcomes increase in basic customs duty on silk and silk products. Synthetic Industry will be able to substitute silk products silk products by supplying silk like products out of synthetic fibres.
On methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), duty has been increased from zero to 7.5 per cent. It is used in the production of polyurethanes for many applications, like spandex yarn. The revised custom duty will attract investments in India given the rising demand of polyurethanes and presence of no domestic players.
