Policy changes in agrochemicals My Point of View in the August 9 issue of Chemical Weekly dwells on the policy changes needed to provide impetus to the growth of the Indian agrochemical industry. At a recently held conference in New Delhi, the pleas were for a smoother and more contemporary registration system for new products; rationalisation of the tax system (lowering of GST from an onerous level of 18% now); enabling the broader implementation of modern technologies bandied together in a concept of ‘smart farming’; and aiding in the 'greening' of an industry that is still largely a chemical-intensive one. With the global agrochemical majors de-emphasising manufacturing to focus on research, development and marketing, a significant and growing outsourcing opportunity has been available to the industry for some time now. This has been leveraged by a select band of companies focussed on manufacturing of generics, and contract manufacturing. Overall, Indian agrochemical industry’s revenues from exports more or less equal that from domestic market sales, and this is a trend that should continue. A weakness of India’s agrochemical industry is the lack of innovativeness. Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, where some efforts for early stage drug discovery are evident, no such efforts is seen in agrochemicals. The legitimate excuse is that this is an expensive exercise beyond the financial and technical capabilities of even the biggest of companies here. But there are lower hanging fruits that the industry here can aspire to reach for. One of this is formulation development. Astute formulations can greatly enhance product efficacy and is at the core of sustainability. #chemical #tax #research #marketing #sustainability #drugdiscovery #development #growth #manufacturing #farming #agrochemicals #formulationdevelopment
