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Yahua Consulting: India is set to become a new leader in Asia’s petrochemical market in 2020. At the end of 2016, a report published by Forbes showed that India’s GDP had surpassed that of the United Kingdom, making it the fifth-largest economy in the world, after the United States, China, Japan, and Germany. In 2016, India’s GDP growth rate surpassed that of China, making it the emerging economy with the fastest economic growth in the world. As a country with rapid economic growth and a population of over 1.3 billion, India has a huge demand for petrochemical products. In particular, in recent years the Indian economy has shown rapid growth, and India’s substantial investments in agriculture, infrastructure, and healthcare will drive rapid development in its petrochemical industry. The current state and prospects of the Indian economy: While the global economy is facing challenges related to weak growth, the Indian economy has performed remarkably well. Thanks to the significant drop in crude oil prices, strong domestic consumer demand, and the fact that economic factors such as inflation and fiscal deficit remain within moderate levels, India has continued to experience robust economic growth, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The Indian economy, with a size of 2 trillion dollars, is under close attention from the world. India has **launched various ambitious** initiatives such as Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Start-up India, and Clean India, which will not only significantly improve the infrastructure in both rural and urban areas of India but also turn it into the world’s largest market for infrastructure investment, offering important opportunities for investors and contributing to India’s rapid growth. India **changed its GDP calculation methods at the end of 2014, which raised the country’s economic growth rate for that fiscal year from below 5% to over 6.5%. This change also enabled India’s economy to surpass that of China, making it the fastest-growing major economy in the world. According to data released by India’s Central Statistical Office (CSO), with market prices remaining unchanged, India’s GDP growth rate in 2015-16 is expected to reach 7.6%, which is higher than the 7.2% growth rate recorded in the previous year. Despite the global economic downturn and the severe growth pressures faced by almost all emerging market economies, several international institutions remain optimistic about India’s economic growth. India’s GDP growth rate is projected to reach 7.6% in 2016-17; the International Monetary Fund estimates it to be 7.5%, while the World Bank predicts a growth rate of 7.8%. However, risks in the future will still exist, primarily coming from the international market; the slowdown in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and China could have a dampening effect on emerging markets. The Current Status and Prospects of India’s Petrochemical Industry As a downstream industry to exploration and refining, the petrochemical industry is a very important sector in India’s economy. India’s petrochemical industry is mainly divided into two categories: basic petrochemical products and end-use petrochemical products. Basic petrochemical products include olefins (ethylene, propylene, etc.) and aromatics (benzene, toluene, PX, etc.), while end-use petrochemical products consist mainly of polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene), synthetic fibers (PET), elastomers, and others. Currently, the capacity of major basic petrochemical plants in India is 14.84 million tons per year, while the market for end-use petrochemical products amounts to 14.41 million tons per year. During the fiscal years 2010 to 2015, India’s imports of petrochemical products experienced a compound annual growth rate of 12%, while exports grew at a rate of 9% during the same period. In India, there is a basic balance between supply and demand for key petrochemical products such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, PX, and ethylene glycol; in fact, for some of these products, supply exceeds demand ； While products such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET are exported in large quantities each year, it is also necessary to import high-end products to meet domestic demand. India’s petrochemical industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors, with an average annual growth rate of over 10%, which is twice the growth rate of India’s GDP. The size of India’s petrochemical industry has reached 40 billion dollars. India’s petrochemical industry is expected to maintain a high growth rate in the coming years, with its value projected to reach 250 billion dollars by 2020. Demand for basic petrochemical products in India is expected to maintain a compound annual growth rate of 10%, reaching 22.6 million tons per year by the fiscal year 2020. This increase in demand will be driven primarily by the olefin segment (ethylene, propylene, etc.) ； The annual compound growth rate for end-use petrochemical products is expected to be 9.5%, reaching 22.7 million tons per year by fiscal year 2020. As a major agricultural country, India has a huge demand for fertilizers. In India, there are 30 large urea plants that produce urea, 21 units that manufacture DAP and compound fertilizers, and 2 units that produce sulfuric acid as a by-product. In addition, 105 sets of medium and small-scale equipment are in operation to produce superphosphate. Currently, India’s production capacity for urea, DAP, and compound fertilizers stands at around 33 million tons per year, 8.5 million tons per year, and 6 million tons per year, respectively. The production volumes are approximately 24 million tons, 3.5 million tons, and 9.3 million tons, respectively. However, India still needs to import large amounts of urea, DAP, and compound fertilizers every year, especially since its self-sufficiency rate for DAP is very low. In the coming years, as India’s agriculture develops, its demand for fertilizers will continue to grow rapidly. It is estimated that by 2020, India’s demand for urea, DAP, and compound fertilizers will reach around 36 million tons, 13 million tons, and 13 million tons respectively. India’s domestic fertilizer production capacity is likely to be insufficient to meet the high domestic demand, and imports of fertilizers in India are expected to remain at high levels. Yahua Consulting believes that although India’s petrochemical industry is relatively small in scale due to factors such as a lack of raw material advantages and low per capita plastic consumption, the rapid economic growth in India, along with a series of **ambitious** plans aimed at boosting investment in infrastructure and sanitation, will create significant opportunities for the development of this industry. In the coming years, the rapid growth in India’s demand for petrochemical products will attract more investors to participate in the construction of more petrochemical projects. By 2020, India is expected to become a new driving force for Asia’s petrochemical market. The senior research team at Asia Chemical Consulting has conducted in-depth studies on India’s petrochemical industry, and by drawing on authoritative data and research reports from Indian and international institutions, they have released the \"2016 India Petrochemical Report – Planned Projects and Market Outlook.\" This report provides an authoritative analysis of the current state and future development of India’s petrochemical industry for companies interested in this market, as well as those involved in project investment, engineering services, and equipment supply. The report focuses on the following topics: An overview and prospects of India’s economic development; The current status and prospects of India’s ethylene and propylene industries; The current status and prospects of India’s benzene, toluene, and PX industries; The current status and prospects of India’s ethylene glycol industry; The current status and prospects of India’s polyethylene and polypropylene industries; The current status and prospects of India’s PTA industry; The current status and prospects of India’s PET industry; The current status and prospects of India’s fertilizer industry (urea, DAP, compound fertilizers); A statistics and overview of petrochemical projects under construction in India. Please send an email to emma.k@chemweekly.com to obtain the table of contents of the India petrochemical report