I try to not to make my Editorial pieces revolve around any individual and keep it generic to the interests of our Industry, as should be the case with a neutral publication like ours. However, there are compelling times when there is adequate reason and merit to make an exception. This piece marks one such occasion. Our Indian Colorant Industry is at a crucial juncture, with opportunities to enhance its global position of strength on the one hand, and ensuring compliance to regulatory and environmental norms. Indian manufacturers are looking to ramp up capacities and capitalise on both global and domestic demands of end-use industries and peer manufacturers alike. This is true across all colorant product classes for both pigments and dyestuffs, as also Intermediates. The scale of operation is what was a lacuna for the Indian Industry, as a general statement, preventing it from matching and overtaking China in this sector. Having begun to address this in right earnest, the Industry also needs to work closely with the authorities and local bodies to ensure that this progress does not come at the cost of the environment, the major concern and criterion being that of adequate effluent treatment during the manufacturing process. This also calls for the construct of norms by central and state authorities and then its adoption by the Industry. Understandably, this calls for a great deal of liaising and effort by the industry, and this is invariably beyond the control of any single company. As we know, the largest concentration of colorant manufacturing in the country is in the state of Gujarat, which in turn is largely vested in the Vatva region of Ahmedabad, thus placing the large onus of business and compliance in this zone.
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