Godrej Industries Group (GIG) hosted the third edition of the National Chemistry Day Summit, bringing together senior leaders and experts from across India’s chemical industry. Organised jointly by Godrej Industries (Chemicals) and Astec LifeSciences, the summit centred on the theme “Staying Resilient in a New Age World.” Building on the success of its previous editions, the event examined how chemical companies can adapt to disruption, accelerate innovation and create long-term value.
Chemical Industry Faces a New Era of Change
India’s chemical industry is undergoing significant transformation. Changing market conditions, evolving supply chains, technological disruption and increasing sustainability expectations are reshaping how companies operate. Against this backdrop, the summit focused on a proactive approach to resilience. Industry leaders discussed how businesses can move beyond simply responding to disruptions and instead anticipate change, strengthen capabilities and prepare for long-term growth. Vishal Sharma, Executive Director and CEO, Godrej Industries (Chemicals), and Chairperson, Astec LifeSciences, emphasised that resilience now goes beyond managing disruption. He highlighted the importance of agility, collaboration and collective industry action, noting that chemical companies often operate simultaneously as competitors, suppliers and customers. He also stressed the need for the industry to work together to build a more innovative, agile, sustainable and future-ready chemical ecosystem.
Building a Future-Ready Chemical Ecosystem
The first panel discussion, “Resilience Beyond the Enterprise: Building a Future-Ready Chemical Industry,” examined how the broader chemical ecosystem can become more resilient. Moderated by Vishal Sharma, the panel featured Murali Krishna Duvvuri, Senior Managing Director, Life Sciences, Asia and Region India, Croda; Alexander Gerding, Managing Director, BASF India; and Bankim Patra, Country Head (Lubes), Indian Oil Corporation Limited. The discussion highlighted the need for stronger collaboration across the chemical value chain. In addition, participants identified technology and R&D partnerships, enabling infrastructure, supportive policies and faster project execution as critical priorities. These measures, the panel noted, can help create an ecosystem capable of attracting investment, accelerating innovation and supporting industrial scale-up.
Strengthening Business Agility and Competitiveness
The second panel, “Resilience for the Enterprise: Driving Growth, Competitiveness, and Agility in a Changing Market,” shifted the focus to building resilience within individual organisations. Sandeep Arora, Chief Commercial Officer, Godrej Industries (Chemicals), moderated the session. The panel included Raj Tiwari, CEO, SUPERFORM and Whole-time Director, UPL Limited; Ajith Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Birla Opus; and Vimal Bhola, Co-founder and Chief R&D Scientist, Innovist, formerly Onesto Labs. The discussion underlined the importance of people, product strength, customer understanding and innovation in building competitive organisations. Speakers highlighted talent development, customer-centricity, faster innovation and long-term business planning as essential to maintaining agility. Companies must also balance immediate execution with sustained investment in R&D to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.
AI and Talent Emerge as Strategic Priorities
The summit also featured two sessions focused on emerging priorities for the chemical sector. The keynote session, “Preparing for the Next Decade: AI in the Chemical Industry,” featured Sambit Patra, Senior Partner, Chemicals Practice, Bain & Company. The session explored the growing role of artificial intelligence in transforming chemical businesses and preparing the sector for the next phase of growth. Meanwhile, the fireside chat “The Talent Imperative: Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Talent in a Rapidly Evolving Chemical Industry” brought together Shefali Kohli, CHRO, Global Chemicals, Fashion Yarn and Insulators, Aditya Birla Group, and Poonam Burman, Chief Human Resource Officer, Godrej Industries (Chemicals).
Green Chemistry, AI and Talent Shape the Future
The National Chemistry Day Summit highlighted three major priorities shaping the future of India’s chemical industry: green chemistry, artificial intelligence and talent development. As the sector navigates geopolitical uncertainty, changing customer expectations, supply-chain shifts and sustainability pressures, industry collaboration and organisational agility will become increasingly important. As per the press release, the discussions reinforced the need for chemical companies to innovate faster, invest in people, adopt emerging technologies and build sustainable business models. Together, these capabilities can help position India’s chemical industry for resilient and future-ready growth.
