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ach time I encounter news about just how well the chemical industry
is doing worldwide in the new economy, my thoughts turn homewards to
Gujarat, where not only my heart rests, but where a significant part of India’s
chemical industry also has a base.
At a global level, e-business is progressing extremely rapidly within the chemical
industry, providing it with the necessary elements to create explosive growth. In
fact, over the next 18 months, it is expected that online revenues of leading chemical
firms will rise from the existing one percent to a hefty 15 percent.
The really good news is that chemical companies across the world are promising
integrated Websites capable of offering complete online transactions.
The strides made by companies such as Air Products and Chemicals, BASF, Dow
Chemical, DuPont, Lonza and PQ among others in the e-world, can serve as beacons
for aspiring ventures back home, providing them with a road map to follow in the
e-business domain.
India’s chemical industry too is creating the right waves. Close to $25 billion is generated
from chemicals alone of the $30 billion chemicals and fertilizer sector in India.The really
good news is that Gujarat boasts of a significant piece of this pie.
With such a burgeoning industry housed within its precincts, it is up to the Gujarat
government and our industry leaders to ensure that it is cutting edge and IT savvy.
Like its counterparts across the globe, Indian chemical firms, particularly the ones
in Gujarat, need to e-nable themselves, get more and more IT-oriented and
collaborate among themselves to create what is now being touted as the futuristic
e-marketplace.
The IT-fication of India’s chemical industry had in fact already begun. Companies
such as Chem. B.Com and others like Mevisa are already offering Indian chemical
ventures a window to the emerging international markets, plunging them into the
global e-trade environment. The solution from such companies is positioned as a
software based facilitation tool that brings international buyers and sellers into
contact with Indian chemical manufacturers.
The Times of India, Ahmedabad October 16, 2000
“
IT–fy” Gujarat’s Chemical Industry”
