Our country India, after China, is considered as the hub of Chemical manufacturing. In the current situation after witnessing the COVID-19 breakout, India is supplying Hydroxychloroquine, and paracetamol to many corona affected countries including USA, Israel, UK, Afghanistan, Russia, UAE, etc., as these medicines are the only hope for the pandemic. India will also be supplying testing kits, PPEs in near future to many other countries. This act of our country is more of a humanitarian task than out of commercial interest. The current economic situation may be worrying us, but it gives us a plethora of opportunities in the near future, specially for Chemicals and allied Industries. The use of detergent or soap, sanitizers, chemicals for infrastructure sanitization, hospital sanitization, polymers for PPE manufacturing, textile chemicals for manufacturing of masks, gloves, petrochemical production for quick and easy transport of essentials to each and every corner of the country are increasing and generating tremendous demand on production of this chemicals. Several chemical engineering institutions with research facilities are closely working with the industry/biosciences/ medical department in the development of drugs and vaccines.

Many countries are planning to shift their manufacturing base from China to India, giving us opportunities to design, develop and use new and advanced technologies, set up production units that work with optimum resources, cleaner productions, reduce and recycle waste, conserve energy there by reducing the cost of product. This would also help in job creation, small and micro business setups, accessories units set up to cope with demand. The future seems bright and now with proper planning and strategy India can definitely accept the challenge.

This means that the demand for Chemical engineers will rise to help in designing, redesigning, reengineering of existing units, production planning, management control and decision making, procurements, finance, operations, marketing, research and innovation, optimizing of resources, fabricate equipment, environment planning, pollution control and planning, energy generation and conservation, ensuring safe and secured work environment, and obviously being an entrepreneur – your own boss. The MBA Tech chemical course offered by MPSTME, NMIMS, brings out the right blend of qualities required for Chemical engineers to utilise their engineering knowledge interwoven with management skills to face this challenge of building a brighter India along with a healthy world with better living conditions, less pollution, more renewable resources, green chemicals and low carbon footprint.

This article is written by Nishita D. Parekh, HOD Chemical Department