'Chemical Industry Can Contribute USD 300 Billion to GDP'

Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Sadananda Gowda said the sector has the potential to contribute over USD 300 billion to GDP over the next five years when the economy is slated to scale the USD 5 -trillion-mount.

The chemicals and fertilizers sector, which currently contributes nearly 7.76% of manufacturing now, has the potential to reach 20-25% in the next five years and can nearly double to USD 304 billion, he said.

"Government has set an ambitious target of making the country a USD 5-trillion economy by 2025. I believe that the chemicals and fertilizers sector has a huge role to play in this and can contribute USD 304 billion of that, up from the present USD 160 billion," Gowda said at the India chemicals summit here.

Assuring the industry of all the necessary support, he urged the stakeholders need to work hard to realize its full potential. With per capita income steadily increasing, the mid-income population presents a huge market. It is expected that the chemical industry will grow at 9% annually over the next five years," Gowda said.

He also said the government is committed to providing a predictable and market-friendly policy framework to enable companies to take investment decisions and pointed to the enabling reforms such as GST, relaxed FDI norms, labour reforms and bankruptcy laws.