India Chem 2026 Ends in Mumbai With Japan as Partner Country

India Chem 2026, the biennial expo and conference of the chemicals and petrochemicals industry, came to a close in Mumbai after three days. This was the 14th edition, opened on 22 October, and it ran on the theme Advantage Bharat: An Emerging Global Chemicals Hub. The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals put it together with FICCI, and Japan, with which India trades heavily in chemicals, came in as the partner country.

Who opened the edition

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda inaugurated it. The Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha were on the dais, as was Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers and for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel. Nadda asked industry leaders, investors, innovators and policymakers to pull together for Viksit Bharat@2047, and called chemicals and petrochemicals a sunrise sector with room to grow and a large part to play in the economy.

The growth figures to remember

The minister set out the road the sector is expected to travel. From a market of roughly USD 220 billion at present it is to reach about USD 1 trillion by 2040, and some USD 1.6 trillion by 2047. He described that growth as indispensable if the country is to become a developed economy by the centenary of independence.

Forums and roundtables

Nadda presided over the CEOs Forum, which took up competitiveness and the ambition of turning India into a globally competitive hub. Separate brainstorming sessions were held as the India-Japan, India-USA and India-EU chemicals and petrochemicals forums, where industry representatives looked at trade, investment and technology tie-ups. Roundtables covered specialty chemicals, infrastructure for the sector, agrochemicals, environment issues, and plant machinery, pumps and valves.

India Chem Youth Innovation Challenge

The 14th edition added a feature for students, the India Chem Youth Innovation Challenge, in which young innovators worked on problem statements handed over by the industry and a jury judged their answers. The first prize went to Soumya Bhole and Sarthak Kale of ICT, Mumbai. Suman Batwe and Saloni Mhadesar of VNIT, Nagpur took the second prize, and Jash Prasad and Smit Bambhorliya of IIT, Gandhinagar the third.

Who exhibited and who came

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha were the partner states, and Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar also set up pavilions alongside leading Indian and global companies. Delegates came from Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, countries of the European Union, Latin America, the Republic of Korea and the ASEAN nations, and the footfall crossed 5,000 visitors over the three days.