• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

HYDERABAD, Feb. 6

FOLLOWING the natural gas find along the costal region in Andhra Pradesh, there is the potential for a spin-off opportunity in the form of use of natural gas as a feedstock for bulk and speciality chemicals, according to Mr S.S.Barnala, Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

There are bright prospects for setting up a large capacity natural gas based chemical complex in the Vizag-Kakinada area and the State Government is promoting mega infrastructure projects covering express highways, chemical handling port, mega water supply system and thermal plants.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Indo-German Symposium on Catalysis at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology here on Thursday, the Andhra Pradesh Governor said that the non-renewable feedstocks and energy are getting rapidly depleted since the demands of mankind are growing exponentially.

"It is heartening to note that national laboratories like Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, National Chemical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Petroleum are focussing their attention on development of new feedstocks and chemical building blocks from carbohydrates, biomass, oilseeds, carbon dioxide and natural gas employing modern tools. Interestingly, globally serious efforts are being made to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water employing highly innovative catalysis," he said.

Catalysis is an important area that India should focus on, he said.

Between 20-30 per cent of the gross national product of the developed countries has been reported to come from the direct contribution of catalysis.

"Indo-German cooperation in science and technology is very strong and the collaboration in chemical sciences is more than three decades old. The German institutions like DAAD and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation have played a major role in building synergies. It is gratifying to learn that the President of Germany will be visiting Hyderabad in March. This will further strengthen Indo-German bonds," he said.

The three-day international conference provides an opportunity for experts to evolve new methodologies for multidisciplinary approach for developing novel catalyst systems. Catalysis plays significant role in the areas of non-renewable feedstocks and energy which are rapidly getting depleted, Mr K.V.Raghavan, Director, IICT, said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Toy exports seen to touch $35 m

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line