The Indian plastics industry is set to buck the global trend and grow 12% this year on the back of recent government initiatives.

Plastics is one of the fastest growing industries in India experiencing a double digit growth rate on an average. A slew of Government of India initiatives – Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Start Up India and Swachch Bharat Abhiyan – is opening up opportunities for even more accelerated growth in this industry. The plastics industry would also contribute in a big way in the success of all such programs. As an example, in Digital India program, most gadgets are made of plastics. In the electronics industry, in the next 5 to 10 years, most of the products are proposed to be made in India. Imports from China and other countries will reduce and India will become a major sourcing hub. Smart cities, rapid urbanisation, increase in sale of packaged products through retail and eCommerce mode, low per capita consumption, shifting consumer lifestyles, large young population, majority of population of middle income group, and the trend of many manufacturing segments adopting higher percentage of plastics, etc., are among the factors contributing towards the growth of plastics industry.

The Indian plastics industry has geared itself to take up the challenges of quantitative and qualitative growth for serving the nation and its citizens and also to take the country to a higher growth path. These points were part of the information shared by Mr K K Seksaria, President, Plastindia Foundation at the formal launch of Plastindia 2018 recently.

Other major initiatives of Plastindia Foundation are:

Plastindia International University – Plastindia Foundation is setting up an International University dedicated to plastics with a variety of courses that can fuel the industry and economy at large. This has been granted private university status via Govt of Gujarat gazette dated 09.05.2016. Plastindia International University is among the 21 universities in the state of Gujarat to be notified as such
Environment and plastics image – The aim of this initiative is to create awareness for use of plastics responsibly, role of plastic in environment conservation, natural resources renewal and protection of the environment through recycling of plastic
Plasticulture – The long term objective is to ensure that precious natural resource like water is conserved while increasing farm yield through use of modern techniques by using Plastics in agriculture, and
Quality and standardization – Working towards setting BIS standards and technological development in the field of plastics.

Sharing further details, Mr Rajeev Chitalia, Chairman of NEC, Plastindia 2018 mentioned, “It seems that the centre of gravity is rapidly shifting to India due to the opportunities here. India is the world’s next plastic destination by virtue of both, its sheer size and tremendous growing domestic demand. The facts and figures say it all. By 2020, plastics consumption of India is set to increase from the current 12 million metric tonnes per annum to 20 million metric tonnes per annum. India will deploy 1,80,000 machines by the year 2020 as compared to the current 1, 13,000. The export of plastics finished goods alone is set to nearly double from USD 7.9 billion currently to USD 15 billion in next 5 years. The industry is determined to play a significant role in executing government’s vision of raising exports to USD 900 billion by 2020.

If the response to Plastindia 2018 is any indication, then Indian plastics industry is looking at great times ahead. The event would be spread over 125,000 square metres of gross area spread across 15 state-of-the-art halls. About 2000 companies including 600 companies from across 40 countries would display their products, technologies and innovations in Plastindia 2018. The effort is to bring the entire Indian plastics industry together and make Plastindia 2018 the most broad spectrum showcase of Indian plastic industry and innovations. The event has the support of 60 plastic associations from across India for bringing visitors and buyer delegations to create more trade opportunities for exhibitors. About 2,00,000 stakeholders from the plastic industry are expected to visit Plastindia 2018, including overseas visitors from countries of Africa, Middle East, South and Latin America, Europe and Asia.