| | OCTOBER 20218Vantage PointSPECIALTY CHEMICALS MARKET IS WITNESSING A WAVE OF PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATIONS. HOW DO YOU SEE THE EVOLUTION OF THIS INDUSTRY IN INDIA AND WHAT IS DRIVING GROWTH OF THIS MARKET?Product diversifications happen to fulfil evolving customer and market needs and to capitalise on the emerging market opportunities. Import substitution is one area which industry constantly explores to identify products that could be potential candidates for diversification.Demand supply gaps in export markets provide another opportunity for diversification. Today, globally, companies are exploring to develop alternate vendor bases to have China plus one supply chains to reduce their dependence on a single country. This supports creation of additional production base in India for global markets, and this export demand is also pushing product diversifications.R&D and innovation provides companies with diversification opportunities to develop products that offer better value in comparison with available alternatives. This includes customization and application development that can expand market and help business growth. This also helps create intellectual properties that are valuable in the long-term as well.WHICH ARE THE MAJOR TECHNOLOGIES EMERGING IN THIS SEGMENT WITH REGARD TO MANUFACTURING? HOW ARE THEY TRANSFORMING THE INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER?Customers and manufacturers today are looking for solutions that are sustainable, both for raw materials and finished products. This is driving technological development to a large extent. Natural, sustainable and renewable sources for raw materials and energy are focus areas. On the principles of circular economy, reduction in the generation of effluent and converting same into a usable product as input to other industries are other areas of technological developments.SPECIALTY CHEMICALS INDUSTRY MOVING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITYIn an interaction with Industry Outlook, Shohab Rais, COO ­ Indian Chemical Business, Tata Chemicals shares his views on the challenges faced in specialty chemical manufacturing and how they can be addressed.Shohab Rais
< Page 7 | Page 9 >