Inauguration of 67th Annual Session of Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON) at PU campus

Chandigarh, December 27, 2014 :  Vice President of India and Panjab University (PU) Chancellor,  M.Hamid Ansari today inaugurated the 67th Annual Session of the Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON) at PU campus, Chandigarh  today.

The four day prestigious International Conference is being organised by Chandigarh Regional Centre, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) in collaboration with Dr SS Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (UICET), PU. The conference is being organised on the theme, "Chemical Engineering-Emerging Dimensions and Challenges Ahead".

Addressing the Annual Congress of the Chemical Engineers, M. Hamid Ansari lauded the role of Chemical Engineering and Chemicals. He quoted Planning Commission paper and said that Indian chemical industry in 2010 had the size of $108 billion and accounted for approximately 7 per cent of Indian GDP. The chemicals sector accounted for about 14 per cent in overall index of industrial production. Share of industry in national exports was around 11%. In terms of volume, India is the third-largest producer of chemicals in Asia, after China and Japan, he added. 

While referring to India’s aspiration to emerge as a high technology manufacturing hub for the world, M. Hamid Ansari called upon the Chemical Engineers to play important role in bringing Indian chemical industry to the desired level of size, technology and products. Despite its large size and significant GDP contribution, Indian chemicals industry represents only around 3% of global chemicals. This suggests that much more needs to be done to bring our chemical industry to the desired level in terms of size, technology and products, given our aspiration to emerge as a high technology manufacturing hub for the world, he added.

While underlining the role of Chemical Engineering in life, M. Hamid Ansari said that Chemicals are a part of every aspect of human life like the food, the clothes or the cars. Chemical Engineering is required for meeting the basic needs of humanity in terms of food, water and energy security, environmental sustainability, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. Chemical industry contributes significantly to improving the quality of life through breakthrough innovations facilitating pure drinking water, faster medical treatment, stronger homes and greener fuels, he added. 

 Ansari referred to relevance of Chemical engineering in new scientific advances in diverse fields like genetic foods, smart materials, drug delivery systems, agro-based technology, biotechnology, microelectronics, nanotechnology and advanced materials. Chemical engineering will therefore remain critical for the economic development of any country, providing products and enabling technical solutions in virtually all sectors of the economy, he further added.

He recalled that Chemical Industry is one of the oldest industries in India. It provides valuable chemicals for various end products such as textiles, paper, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, paints, leather etc., which are required in almost all

walks of life. The Indian Chemical Industry forms the backbone of the industrial and agricultural development of the country and provides building blocks for downstream industries, he added. He also stressed for attracting the best young minds to the field of chemical engineering and equipping them with latest knowledge and techniques, 

PU Vice Chancellor (VC) Arun Kumar Grover welcomed Hamid Ansari at the PU Campus.

 In his address, Grover said that scientific meetings like CHEMCON and ICONSAT are important for the University as they provide avenues to sustain and improve its competitiveness amongst its national and international peer institutions. He stressed for more Academia-Industry interactions and collaborations with well known research groups abroad.  

Punjab Governor, Shivraj V. Patil, Haryana Governor,  Kaptan Singh Solanki, Punjab Minister of Industries and Commerce Madan Mohan Mittal, Chairman National Organizing Committee Prof G D Yadav,l Chairman Local Organising Committee Prof S K Sharma, President Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers C V Murthy, Organising Secretary CHEMCON-2014 Prof VK Rattan also spoke on the occasion. Prof Anupama Sharma

conducted the stage.

Foreign delegates from Japan, Canada, USA, Singapore, South Africa and Iran also participated in the inaugural function.

(SK Vyas/Jalandhar)

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