On the export front, the industry has achieved growth rates of 15 per cent, as compared to the last few years, which has been around 13 per cent. During 1999-2000, the amount of speciality chemicals exported was around $3 billion as compared to $2.6 billion in the last fiscal.

While addressing the seminar on `Fine and Speciality Chemicals', editor, `Chemical Weekly', Ravi Raghavan said that: "During the last three years this industry has faced an unfamiliar environment and reacting differently due to lower entry barriers, in most of the fine and speciality chemicals.

As compared to the overall industry, the fine and speciality chemical industry's growth is better than many other sectors like, electricity, mining, cotton textile, food products etc. However, coupled with surging imports from various countries has squeezed the profit margin of most of the domestic companies, and this might get aggravated if import duties further slash down"

Herdillia Chemicals managing director, Rajeev Pandia, said that: "In India, due to radical change in consumption patterns, like use in furniture, agriculture, building construction, auto sector, packaging, processed foods etc, the future of speciality chemicals is very bright as compared to other chemicals."

Addressing the participants, editor-in-chief of `China Chemical News', Ms Jingsheng Xu said that: "Looking at the world competition, China has concentrated more on R & D and quality in the last few years.

The fruits of this is that today we are able to compete with the world leader USA and other countries. In various chemical plants, we have to increase the capacities of mass production. Among other inustries are, textile printing, pigments, plastic processing, rubber processing, feed additives etc. And due to the cheap cost of production and our wide range of products, we are not really dumping into any country".

The seminar concluded with a bright outlook for this industry, by looking at various new avenues in speciality chemicals industry among others, there will be structural shifts in this industry. Coupled with others, in the near future, there will be privatisation of a major chemical public sector undertaking, strategic marketing alliances for domestic sales and exports, strategic marketing alliance with multinationals and trading companies, stricter enforcement of good manufacturing practices, consortium funding of infrastructure projects, opportunity for value addition using contract manufacturing or research etc. This industry will witness all this in the near future.