~ Third edition examines how businesses can build resilience through innovation, technology, talent and stronger partnerships ~

Bangalore: Godrej Industries Group (GIG) hosted the third edition of the National Chemistry Day Summit. Building on the success and momentum of the previous two editions, this joint initiative by GIG companies, Godrej Industries (Chemicals) and Astec LifeSciences, brought together leaders from across the chemical industry under the theme “Staying Resilient in a New Age World,” to examine how businesses can adapt, innovate and build for the future.

The Indian chemical industry finds itself in a period of major transformation, with changing market dynamics, evolving supply chains, technological disruptions and a shifting sustainability landscape reshaping the way businesses operate. Against this backdrop, the summit explored how organisations can move beyond responding to change to anticipating it, strengthening their capabilities and creating long term value.

Reflecting on the summit Vishal Sharma, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Godrej Industries (Chemicals) and Chairperson, Astec LifeSciences, said: “Resilience today is no longer just about managing disruption; it is about anticipating and being prepared for what comes next. As our industry navigates geopolitical uncertainty, evolving customer needs, and a rapidly changing environment, agility will define the winners. But no company can build that future alone. In the chemical industry, each of us is simultaneously a competitor, a supplier, and a customer. If we want to take this industry forward in the right direction for India, we must move beyond operating only as individual companies and work together as the Chemical industry. That is the spirit behind National Chemistry Day and our commitment to building it as a permanent platform for collaboration. Together, we can create an industry that is more innovative, more agile, more sustainable, and most importantly, future ready and resilient.”

The first panel, “Resilience Beyond the Enterprise: Building a Future-Ready Chemical Industry,” was moderated by Vishal Sharma, and brought together Murali Krishna Duvvuri, Senior Managing Director, Life Sciences, Asia and Region India, Croda; Alexander Gerding, Managing Director, BASF India; and Bankim Patra, Country Head (Lubes), Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

The discussion highlighted the need for a more integrated approach to strengthening India’s chemical ecosystem, with greater collaboration across the value chain, stronger technology and R&D partnerships, enabling infrastructure and policies, and faster project execution emerging as key priorities for future growth. These priorities underscore the importance of building a stronger ecosystem that can support investment, innovation and scale.

The second panel, “Resilience for the Enterprise: Driving Growth, Competitiveness, and Agility in a Changing Market,” was moderated by Sandeep Arora, Chief Commercial Officer, Godrej Industries (Chemicals) and brought together Raj Tiwari, CEO, SUPERFORM and Whole-time Director, UPL Limited; Ajith Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Birla Opus; and Vimal Bhola, Co-founder and Chief R&D Scientist, Innovist, formerly Onesto Labs.

The conversation brought out the importance of building organisational strength through people, a strong product proposition, customer understanding and a culture that enables innovation, with the discussion highlighting talent development, long term business design, customer centricity, faster innovation and the balance between short term execution and long-term R&D as important considerations for businesses seeking to remain agile and responsive to change.

The summit also featured two focused sessions examining emerging priorities for the chemical industry. “Preparing for the Next Decade: AI in the Chemical Industry” featured a keynote by Sambit Patra, Senior Partner, Chemicals Practice, Bain & Company, while a fireside chat around “The Talent Imperative: Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Talent in a Rapidly Evolving Chemical Industry” featured Shefali Kohli, CHRO, Global Chemicals, Fashion Yarn and Insulators, Aditya Birla Group and Poonam Burman, Chief Human Resource Officer, Godrej Industries (Chemicals).

The event highlighted the industry’s shift toward green chemistry, the transformative power of AI, and the urgent need to attract new talent to the sector.