India’s state oil refiners – long focused on churning out transport and cooking fuels – are planning a $35 billion push into petrochemicals to meet an expected surge in demand for goods ranging from plastics to paints and adhesives. The drive comes as the government seeks to promote durable, cheaper materials in industries such as farming and food packaging, while refiners eye long-term threats to their business from renewable energy and a shift to electric vehicles. India’s per capita consumption of synthetic polymers, for instance, used to make various grades of plastics, is just 10 kg (22 lbs) a year, compared with a global average of about 32 kg. “India is one of the fastest growing economies globally, but our petrochemical use is one-fourth the world average. We import half of our petchem consumption,” said S. Mitra, executive member at trade body, the Chemical and […]