Digital Transformation Catalyzes Growth in India's Chemical Industry
India's chemical industry is undergoing a digital revolution to boost productivity, safety, and global competitiveness. A webinar by Indian Chemical News and AVEVA highlighted how digital technologies are foundational for this shift. Experts discussed phased transformation, AI/ML for asset optimization, Agentic AI for maintenance, and evolving global trends like the rise of Chief Digital and Information Officers. The emphasis is on intelligence-led performance, strategic IT-OT integration, and 'as-a-service' models to aid SMEs, making digital adoption crucial for achieving India's manufacturing hub ambitions and sustainability goals.
India's chemical industry is embarking on a profound digital transformation, essential for its strategic ambition to become a global manufacturing hub, reduce import dependence, and meet stringent environmental standards. This paradigm shift from scale-led expansion to intelligence-led performance was the central theme of a webinar, “Catalysts for Change: A Digital Revolution for India’s Chemical Industry,” organized by Indian Chemical News in association with AVEVA.Key industry experts shared their insights on leveraging digital tools. Abhiram Alurkar from DFPCL outlined a phased approach to digital transformation, starting with connecting and contextualizing data, progressing to predicting and optimizing operations, and finally prescribing actions to assist the workforce. He stressed the importance of IT-OT integration and maximizing business relevance over digitization for its own sake. Jagdish Pranami of SRF highlighted practical applications of AI and ML for maximizing productivity from existing assets, citing successful implementations in steam trap and rotating equipment monitoring, which significantly reduce losses, downtime, and environmental footprint.Ramesh Dham from Coromandel International introduced the concept of “Return on Time” (ROT) alongside ROI, emphasizing rapid value realization from digital investments. He elaborated on the transformative potential of Agentic AI in maintenance, where smart agents can consolidate tasks, pull data from various systems, and assist with complex planning. Anand Mantri from Kearney presented five global trends shaping connected chemical plants, including scaling beyond isolated pilots, the growing influence of Chief Digital and Information Officers (CDIOs), strategic ecosystem partnerships, and the shift from viewing digital as a cost center to a revenue generator. Finally, Naveen Kumar of AVEVA discussed their integrated industrial intelligence solutions across design, build, operate, and optimize stages, focusing on embedded AI and addressing the digital divide for SMEs through platform-based and 'as-a-service' models, making digital adoption practical and scalable for all.