The Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI), the country's crop-protection industry body, has asked the government for a dedicated Rs 5,000–7,000 crore support programme running seven to eight years, including two to three years for plant commissioning, to build self-reliance in agrochemical technicals and intermediates and cut the industry's structural cost disadvantage against China. The proposal, developed with the consultancy KPMG, was set out in a knowledge paper released at the federation's annual general meeting in New Delhi.

ACFI chairman Rahul Dhanuka said the next phase of growth in crop protection should rest on ecosystem competitiveness, faster commercialisation of innovation, supply-chain resilience and lower structural costs. The report argues the gap calls for targeted support rather than permanent subsidies, and that biologicals are a significant opportunity if research and commercial deployment are better linked.

The specific asks include a 5 to 8 percent incentive on incremental sales for domestic makers of technicals and intermediates, subsidies of 30 to 40 percent on industrial electricity and shared common effluent treatment plants, two of the largest recurring costs for chemical manufacturers competing with China. The plan also seeks capital grants for specialised R&D, investment thresholds set separately for large and small firms, agrochemical parks with shared utilities and cluster infrastructure, and a single digital platform for central and state approvals. For biologicals it asks for pilot manufacturing facilities and GLP-certified testing laboratories, which India lacks at scale.

India is among the world's largest producers and exporters of crop-protection products by volume, but much of that output depends on technical-grade actives and intermediates sourced from China, whose producers benefit from larger scale, cheaper power and established chemical parks. The federation's paper turns a long-standing grievance into a specific investment ask ahead of budget discussions.

The proposal is an industry recommendation, not policy. Whether it becomes a scheme will depend on budget allocation and coordination between the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the Ministry of Agriculture and the state governments that would host the proposed parks; no timeline for a government response has been announced.

India already supplies technical actives and formulated products to Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, so localising intermediate production would reduce its exposure to Chinese supply disruptions and price swings of the kind that unsettled glyphosate and other herbicide markets in recent years, and could speed its push into biologicals manufacturing as global demand for bio-based crop protection rises.

Source: Global Agriculture