The Indian government expects to publish its national chemical policy soon, according to local reports. Work on the policy, which has been in development for more than three years, is said to be in the final stages.

The policy is expected to help India’s chemicals sector grow and become more competitive, with the aim of rationalizing statutory regulations and controls as well as providing a framework to promote the safety and security of chemical facilities.

The country is also planning to add 70 plastic engineering centers in the next three years to meet rising demand for engineers. There are currently 23 Central Institutes of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), and the government has already sanctioned another 10. A government minister said India requires more than 400,000 plastics engineers.

Speaking at a seminar in September, India’s chemicals and fertilizers secretary Surjit Kumar Chaudhary said the ministry was seeking to create an enabling framework to accelerate manufacturing of chemicals and petrochemicals to meet growing internal and external demand, and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.

Chaudhary also proposed to set up a National Chemical Centre to store information on the chemical sector.