ICC AWARDS FOR 2016 PRESENTED


READY FOR THE AWARDS PRESENTATION: FROM L-R ARE: MR. H. S. KARANGLE, DIRECTOR GENERAL - ICC, MR. RAJEEV KAPOOR, SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS, GOVT. OF INDIA (GUEST OF HONOUR), MR. RAVI KAPOOR, PRESIDENT - ICC, MR. VIJAY SANKAR, VICE PRESIDENT - ICC, MR. RAINER HEUBACH, CHAIRMAN - HEUBACH GROUP OF COMPANIES (CHIEF GUEST) AND MR. RAVI GOENKA, ADDL. VICE PRESIDENT, ICC.

The Annual Industry Awards for Excellence in Performance in Various Facets of Chemical Industry for the year 2016 instituted by ICC were presented to the winners at a glittering function organised on 29 September 2017 in Hotel Taj Palace, Mumbai..

The mega event was largely attended by invited guests comprising the Captains of Industry from all parts of the country; academia; research institutions; senior officials from government departments of both States and Central and many other distinguished guests.The added attraction of this year's ceremony was the presence of Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd who was also conferred with SUPER ACHIEVER AWARD.

MR. RAINER HEUBACH, Chairman of the Germanbased Heubach Group of Companies, was the Chief Guest at the function. MR. RAJEEV KAPOOR, Secretary. Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, was the Guest of Honour.

The Ceremony started with the traditional welcome address by Mr. Ravi Kapoor, President, ICC. In his address, Mr. Ravi Kapoor congratulated all the Award Winners and expressed his grateful thanks to Mr. Mukesh Ambani for his august presence at the function. Mr. Kapoor further elaborated on the activities undertaken by ICC and also the future plans for taking forward the issues and concerns of the chemical industry with the concerned authorities for the redressal. Mr. Kapoor said that awareness programs on the Responsible Care, which is a voluntary movement by the chemical industries, was getting prime slots in ICC activities and many a programs were held and planned for the coming years with the support of Government of India and other State government departments and also with the support of international agencies like American Chemistry Council, ICCA, Sandia National Laboratories and CRDF Global of USA, etc.


MR. RAVI KAPOOR, PRESIDENT-ICC DELIVERING THE WELCOME ADDRESS.

 

Mr. Ravi Kapoor, President and Mr. Vijay Sankar, Vice President, ICC then introduced the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively.

'GOVT. WORKING TO ADDRESS GROWING IMPORT DEPENDENCE ON PETROCHEMICAL INTERMEDIATES'

The government is seized of the concerns of the chemical industry with regards to the availability of key feedstock, particularly in the area of petrochemical intermediates which India is likely to be short by 25-30 million over the next few years. This was stated by Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, while speaking at the annual awards presentation as the Guest of Honour. Mr. Kapoor informed that the chemicals ministry has started a discussion with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and also with some refineries to address some of the feedstock related issues.Since many of the issues affecting the industry fall in the domain of the Ministry of Environment & Forest, he assured his support in maintaining a continuous dialogue with the ministry and facilitating constructive collaboration.


MR. RAJEEV KAPOOR ADDRESSING THE GATHERING

   
MR. RAVI KAPOOR, PRESIDENT AND MR. VIJAY SANKAR, VICE PRESIDENT, ICC PRESENTING MOMENTOS TO THE CHIEF GUEST AND GUEST OF HONOUR RESPECTIVELY.


MR. RAINER HEUBACH DELIVERING HIS SPEECH

As regards issues related to the duty structure - both domestic and exports - he informed that the commerce ministry had agreed to host a joint dialogue with the industry to address key pain points.

 

INDIA - AMONG THE LOWEST COST CHEMICAL PRODUCERS

In his address, the chief guest of the function, Mr. Rainer Heubach, Chairman of Germany's Heubach Group of Companies, stressed the fact that India is not only becoming a responsible player in the chemical industry but also one of the lowest cost producers in the world. "India is well placed to increase its share in the global chemical production as it has the best cost structure among most Asian countries, a huge qualified work force, and marked by absence of punitive environmental taxes like in China," he said. Mr. Heubach pointed out that consolidation would be needed in the Indian chemical industry which currently comprises over 40,000 units. "Scale is important to be competitive globally. Additionally, innovation in manufacturing is vital in terms of better production processes, replacing toxic products, better quality of products, etc," he remarked. Speaking about his company, Mr. Heubach noted that the roots of the family owned company stretched back to the 14th century and it boasted of a history of 200 years in the pigments industry. He said that the company grew over the years supported by acquisitions like DuPont's pigment division in US and Bayer's Lightfast pigment division. In 1994, the company set up its India subsidiary which has grown by leaps and bounds ever since, he informed and added that the Indian foundation was very important for the group's future as the pigments industry has now migrated from Europe to Asia. He emphasised the need for pigments industry to maintain eco-friendly operations, complaint with all environmental regulations.


 

AWARDS & WINNERS

ICC ACHARYA P. C. RAY AWARD FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD

The 'ICC Acharya PC Ray Award for the Development of Indigenous Technology' for the year 2016 was conferred on Reliance Industries Ltd for developing novel catalyst technology used in gas phase polymerisation process for manufacturing homo, random and ICP grades of polypropylene.

RIL's innovation in development of the morphological precursor was achieved through its unique patented in-house technology of spheroidal magnesium alkoxide from concept to commercial scale, using magnesium metal and alcohol. The technologies were conceptualised, developed in-house and implemented by RIL at Reliance Research and Development Centre (RRDC) without any imported support or know-how. This is the first innovative process at global level commercially used in the last five years for the production of morphological catalyst precursor.

 

ICC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE PROCESS DESIGN (INCLUDING PROCESS INTENSIFICATION) AND ENGINEERING

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD
jointly with
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM, DEHRADUN

RIL also bagged the 'ICC Excellence in Process Design (including process intensification) & Engineering Award' jointly with Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, for developing and commercialising the technology for production of high quality low benzene gasoline by novel extractive distillation of high olefinic FCC gasoline. By restricting benzene content in the gasoline pool, this technology addresses health and environmental concerns.

The technology is commercialised and operational since May 2016 at RIL's Jamnagar refinery which produces benzene lean gasoline and recovering high purity benzene as per the design value.

 

ICC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH & SAFETY

Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd, a leading producer of phthalic anhydride based in South India and Navin Fluorine International Ltd, one of the largest Indian manufacturers of speciality fluorochemicals were recipients of ICC award for excellence in management of health & safety.

 

THIRUMALAI CHEMICALS LTD.

Thirumalai Chemicals has developed the concept of 'Safety Park' - an innovative and effective training methodology where the employees see and learn various safety systems, procedures, tools and safe methods. In the safety park all instructions and practices in safety are shown as miniature models / boards/ pictures. Observation and discussions in the safety park makes the operator habituated and comfortable with safety practices in every situation. The company has also developed a safety portal on intranet which can be accessed by everyone.

 

NAVIN FLUORINE INTERNATIONAL LTD.

Navin Fluorine was recognised for HSE initiatives like establishing process safety management elements including hazard identification and risk assessment & HAZOP, pre-start up safety review, management of change (MOC) process, mechanical integrity system, work permit system, emergency preparedness, accident reporting and investigation.

 

ICC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MANAGEMENT OF ENVIRONMENT

The award for excellence in management of environment were conferred on Chemfab Alkalis Ltd and Essar Oil Limited.

 

NAVIN FLUORINE INTERNATIONAL LTD.

Chemfab Alkalis, the first membrane-based chloralkali plant in India, has implemented clean and green technologies with a total GHG reduction of 4,800 tonnes CO2 equivalent / annum. The company has developed the technology to further reduce GHG by 600 tonnes CO2e/ annum. Over the years, the company has significantly augmented the expenditure, investment and financing towards environment protection mechanisms and training.

 

ESSAR OIL LIMITED

Essar Oil, which owns India's second largest single site refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, is one of the few refineries in Asia to operate a coal fired boiler & power plant, doubled Nelson complexity from 6.1 to 11.8 and achieved a notable emission intensity of 0.022 tons of CO2e/ ton of crude. Essar Oil has aligned its huge requirement through usage of sea water, now further with waste water recycling and practically nil fresh water is drawn. In solid waste generation area, the company has achieved a 20% waste reduction. The award citation also highlighted the company's tree plantation drive, rainwater harvesting initiatives, mangroves afforestation, and effluent treatment among others.

 

ICC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENERGY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

Godrej Industries Limited nd ltramarine & Pigments Ltd won this award for 2016. A Certificate of Merit was conferred on Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.

 

GODREJ INDUSTRIES LTD.

Godrej's oleochemicals plant in Ambernath managed to exhibit substantial improvements in specific energy consumption including sustained 7-8% per year during last 3 years. During last one year, the company invested in energy conservation schemes resulting in attractive energy savings of about Rs. 120 lakhs per year.

 

ULTRAMARINE & PIGMENTS LTD.

Ultramarine & Pigments, which operates manufacturing facilities at Ambattur and Ranipet in Tamil Nadu, reduced its energy consumption of purchased fuel by 34% in two years, and power consumption by 16.5% in three years. The company also achieved improvement in specific energy consumptions through adoption of many innovative methods.

 

RASHTRIYA CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS LTD.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers' Trombay unit, bagged the 'ICC Certificate of Merit' for Excellence in Energy Conservation and Management.

 

ICC AWARD FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The ICC award for social responsibility was conferred on Deepak Nitrite Ltd. and Sud-Chemie India Pvt. Ltd.

 

DEEPAK NITRITE LIMITED

Deepak Nitrite undertakes various CSR initiatives through Deepak Foundation - the group's CSR arm encompassing social interventions in developmental domains, such as health, education, livelihood, women empowerment, etc.

 

SUD-CHEMIE INDIA PVT. LTD.

Sud-Chemie India, a Clariant group firm, has committed to spent 2% of its profit towards CSR. During 2015-16, the company spent more than Rs. 4.50 crores on CSR activities at different locations in diverse areas like healthcare, education, environment, women empowerment & poverty eradication.

 

ICC AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

HIKAL LIMITED

Hikal's HR strategy has been developed fully aligned to long term business goals and has been branded as 'Shashwat', which means 'Universal Truth' in Sanskrit.

 

ICC ADITYA BIRLA AWARD FOR BEST RESPONSIBLE CARE COMMITTED COMPANY

HEUBACH COLOUR PVT. LTD.

Heubach India, was conferred the 'ICC Aditya Birla Award for the Best Responsible Care Committed Company'. "The company's top management takes active interest in Responsible Care for continual improvement and provides adequate resources. The company practices all the 6 codes of Responsible Care. Hazard and risk assessment of processes is done and risk management measures are taken on priority. Under process safety, 'Management of Change' procedure is strictly followed," the award citation informed. Heubach said it's philosophy for environment protection goes beyond waste management into waste minimisation and conversion of waste to useful products.


CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

Certificates of merit were conferred on SI Group India Pvt Ltd for being the best compliant company for the Process Safety Code under Responsible Care and on BASF India Limited for being the best compliant company for the Distribution Code under Responsible Care.

 

SUPER ACHIEVER AWARD

FOR MR. MUKESH D. AMBANI

 

Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited was honoured with the SUPER ACHIEVER AWARD.

After receiving the Award Mr. Mukesh Ambani, praised Mr. Nanavaty's role in the petrochemicals industry and his contributions to making RIL a leader in the sector. "In just the propylene industry, he was part of the journey from an industry size of 30,000 tonnes to 3-mn tonnes," he said. "It is satisfying for us to be part of the chemical industry. Chemicals is Reliance's home business and we will remain committed to it," said Mr. Ambani. "We think India is at the threshold of leading all knowledge industries. We are now proving that we can not only follow benchmarks but also set new benchmarks," he added.

 

ICC D.M. TRIVEDI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO INDIAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

MR. KAMAL P. NANAVATY, President - Strategy Development, Reliance Industries Ltd. and PROFESSOR DEVANG KHAKHAR, Director, IIT-Bombay were honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Awards for their Contributions to the Indian Chemical Industry particularly for Management of Industry and for Education & Research, respectively.

 

ICC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ICC recognised the contributions of MR. ARUN BHARAT RAM, Chairman, SRF Ltd to the chemical industry with its 'ICC Lifetime Achievement Award'.


MR. MUKESH AMBANI RECEIVING THE SUPER ACHIEVER AWARD

 

ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES

MR. KAMAL P. NANAVATY, President-Strategy Development, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), after receiving the 'ICC D.M. Trivedi Lifetime Achievement Award' for his contributions to the chemical industry in the area of management of industry spoke about his long-standing association with Reliance Industries and emphasised that "future is in plastics". He observed that factors like good talent, innovation and change in public perception of the chemical industry from a polluting one to a socially responsible one would go a long way in catapulting the industry to the next level of growth.

 


MR.KAMAL NANAVATY DELIVERING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH.

"The future of the industry will look very different. By 2020 roughly 30-bn devices will be connected by the Internet of Things. To make this scale, cost in efficiency is envisaged and chemistry will have a major role to play in inventing newer materials," he predicted. Mr. Nanavaty said that with his taking over as President of the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturers Association of India, he would strive to work with ICC to strengthen the chemical industry. Accepting the award, Mr. Bharat Ram observed that SRF was now becoming more and more a chemical company from being a predominantly man-made fibre company in the past.

PROF. DEVANG KHAKHAR, Director, IIT-Bombay who was honoured with the 'ICC D.M. Trivedi Lifetime Achievement Award' for contribution to the chemical industry in the area of education & research, while addressing the gathering pointed out that as an academician the recognition bestowed by the industry is "very special". He spoke about the outstanding work being done by the chemistry and chemical engineering departments of IIT-Bombay. "Given the importance of so many allied fields like instrumentation, data analytics, machine learnings, supply chain, etc which are relevant to the chemical industry, there are many other departments of the IIT Bombay that can also contribute to the growth of chemical industry. IIT-Bombay is keen to work closely with the industry and I am sure that such an engagement would be of mutual benefit," he stated.


PROF. DEVANG KHAKHAR DELIVERING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH.

One of the key ingredient to sustain growth in the industry will be its capacity to innovate, he said and added that research of world standards can be done in India even with the resource constraints that exists. "Such research is essential as a source of innovation in chemical industry in India," he noted.

MR. ARUN BHARAT RAM, in his address said that "The story of SRF changed in 1989 when we started manufacturing refrigerant gases based on a boughtout technology. It gave us an insight into how chemistry was used for making a product like refrigerant. We also recognised that the refrigerant we were manufacturing had a sell-by-date factor as it was polluting and had to be phased out soon".

Mr. Bharat Ram said that with technology hard to come by SRF was forced to start its own development programme. "We succeeded in developing the next generation of gas and we went on to become the largest producer of that gas in the world. We also mastered fluorine chemistry and ventured into manufacturing of intermediates for pharma and agrochemicals." Driven by its R&D successes, he informed that the company had filed for 100 patents in the last ten years. "Our goal is to increase the number of patents filed by 25 percent every year," he added.

"Just as India witnessed a revolution in the IT sector in the 1990s, we are going to see a revolution in the chemical business - in the development of technologies and new products. We are going to be at the forefront of knowledge based industries in the chemical sector," he emphasised.


MR. ARUN BHARAT RAM DELIVERING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH.

All members of ICC Awards Selection Committee were also facilitated by the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour at the function for their challenging task of studying each and every nominations received by ICC for these awards and unanimously selecting the Winners.

Mr. Vijay Sankar, Vice President, ICC proposed a Vote of Thanks marking the culmination of the function.