REPORT OF PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE PRESS CLUB, MUMBAI ON 17^TH SEPTEMBER 2013  TO ADDRESS THE MEDIA ON ‘ PLASTIC INDUSTRYS SOS FOR SURVIVAL ‘

The spokespersons of AIPMA were  Mr Arvind Mehta, Chairman Governing Council AIPMA and Mr Hiten Bheda, Hon. Secretary, AIPMA.  There were more than 59 journalists belonging  to different Media Houses who were eager to know what are the remedial measures  to save the plastic industry.

Mr Hiten Bheda gave his opening remarks  with a Powerpoint presentation, briefly giving  key achievements of  AIPMA and informing the media  about medical emergency due to which the President, Mr Asutosh Gor could not address this press conference. He handed over the proceedings to Mr. Arvind Mehta who thanked the media for making their presence in this conference to support our cause.  He informed that on 5^th September 2013,  plastic fraternity held All Plastic Associations Meet at Mumbai in AIPMA House to discuss Sustainable Growth In Plastic Industry in current unimaginable volatile scenario’  and to find a way forward  to resolve the following burning issues :

• To review on challenges in current business scenario and path forward.
• Indiscriminate imports and dumping of finished goods at almost zero rate of duty as a result of FTAs.
• 2.5% increase when combined with other taxes like VAT, CST, OCTROI etc  will have cascading effect on locally available raw material prices.
•  The firming up of local prices will act as disincentive for processors and weaken them in long term, basically MSME Plastic Processors. Their Future is at stake.
•  Escalation in Dollar price as against Rupee and overall effects on the industry.
•  Recent increase in the Import Duty on Raw Materials from 5% to 7.5%
•  Custom duty on finished goods imports should be 20% which is today  NIL -2.5% TO 10% because of FTAs.

After indepth discussion and based on common consensus among more than 40 Plastic Association Heads, it was decided  that a memorandum will be drafted by AIPMA on the following lines and submitted to  Shri  P Chitambaram, Finance Minister, other departments in the Finance Ministry, Commerce Industry, Department of Commerce & Petrochemical, MSME, Anti Dumping, Planning Commission, Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banking Association etc. :

(1)          ACUTE SHORTAGE OF WORKING CAPITAL

  As the polymer raw material prices have seen unprecedented rise in the recent months, (the prevailing average price of commonly used plastics is around Rs. 110/kg plus) to the tune of 30%, the small and medium enterprises in the processing sector are facing  acute shortage of working capital to manage the cash flows.  As the SMEs are mostly financed by Banks, we kindly request you to enhance the sanctioned working capital of SMEs by 30% on adhoc basis to enable them to tie over the financial crunch and continue the operation.  This would be a crucial step towards ensuring timely helpwithout which many units will face closure resulting into NPAs and unemployment. 

(2)          FREE FLOW OF PLASTIC FINSHED GOODS THROUGH

IMPORTS - INCREASE IMPORT DUTY TO 20%

Sir, the woes of the industry are aggravated by free and unfair flow of finished products under various FTAs signed by India.  Under FTAs finished products attract preferential import duties which are declining over the period. As a matter of fact, India is fast becoming a hub of imported plastic products entering at negligible import duty into Indiaand depriving the Indian manufacturer fair play. We strongly demand that the import duty on all imported plastic products should be increased to a minimum of 20%.  This would go a long way in bringing fresh investments in the field for future growth to meet internal demand and circumvent imports of insignificant products that can be drain on the economy. 

(3)          ROLL BACK OF IMPORT DUTY ON POLYMERS

In recent past the import duty on the imported raw materials was hiked to 7.5% from prevailing 5% contrary to AIPMAs continuous stand on the issue.  Since the situation has changed with depreciating Rupee against US Dollar, Euro and British Pound,  it would be appropriate to at least restore the original duty rate of 5% with immediate effect.  This would ensure free availability and affordable rates of raw materials for local processors. 

(4)          ANTI DUMPING DUTY ON PVC RESIN TO GO

India imports 60% of its requirement of PVC and  its capacity enhancement is unlikely in the near future in India.  The anti-dumping duty is redundant under the current scenario and must be abolished immediately. 

(5)          VAT ON PLASTIC PRODUCTS SHOULD BE 4%

Plastic products attract vat of up to 12.5% at present. Being an item of necessity for common man, it would be prudent to revise the same to 4% across the country as it is a common man’s product.

(6)          EXCISE DUTY TO BE RATIONALISED AT 8% TO BOOST GROWTH

Excise duty on Polymer products should be revised toits original 8% to boost the growth of the processing segment. 

(7)          PLASTICS IS A PRODUCT FOR COMMON MAN

Plastics today form a substantial portion of the purchase basket of common man in terms of packaging and items of necessities.  Import dependence for such a critical requirement of the country can only lead to supply/demand gap, out flow of valuable foreign exchange not to mention lost opportunity to generate employment across the value chain. 

For a long term health of the economy it is about time that policy decision be made to support the processing sector with incentives to attract technology and capital investments.This will be in line with proposed building up of manufacturing capabilities for the country.

This was done by AIPMA on 6^th September 2013.  Approximately 55  appeals were submitted to various departments and  15  to RBI and Banking Association Heads all over India . He further explained  to the media about acute shortage  of working capital , increase  of import duty, roll back  of import duty on polymers, abolishing anti-dumping duty on PVC Resin, 4% VAT on plastic products, rationalizing excise duty to boost growth and introduce  GST as soon as possible because plastics is a common man product and survival of small industries is to be given highest priority by considering our appeal and making some flexible change by the Policy makers.

Media Houses like Business Standard Hindi /English, Navbharat, Gujarat Samachar , Janmabhoomi, Lokmat, Economic Times, Samaana and such other leading media houses personally interviewed Mr Mehta and Mr Hiten Bheda, with satisfactory inputs from them each.  Publication Houses  gave excellent coverage to the press conference in their respective publications, next day.

Brief Press Remarks of President and Chairman-PVI-2013 at the
Press Conference at Kolkata on 12th August, 2013

AIPMA & Plastivision India -2013  Press Conference held at Regency, HHI, Kolkata enjoyed  excellent attendance of more than 35 leading Press and Media  from Eastern Region,  such as Statesman, Dainik Jagran, Sanmarg, Jansatta, AajKaal, Sambad, Azad Hind, Akkas, who gave good coverage in their 13^th August,2013 edition.   President gave an opening remark and took the media through the history of AIPMA and informed that looking at huge scope for the growth of Plastic Industry in Eastern Zone and excellent response for Plastivision India 2013 Exhibition from Eastern Sector AIPMA was prompted to purchase its own office in Eastern Zone to extend better services to the Industry.  He also emphasized that Eastern belt is a gold mine in terms of Plastics Industry with presence of Haldia Petrochemicals, and upcoming  Government supported cracker Gas project in Assam coupled with  investment friendly West Bengal  Government -----  is now paving way for huge market especially for the processing Industry.  This is momentous developments setting milestone for plastic Industry in Eastern India.

Move over upcoming plastic park, knowledge city etc supported by West Bengal government will definitely add to the impact on the growth of Plastic Industry here.  If we go by basic statistics. 9% is the rate of growth of Eastern versus 14% of All India average growth and Per capita consumption of polymers in Eastern India is 2.8 Kg versus National average of 8Kg. 

He further informed that Plastic Processing Industry of this part of our country will see significant upwards graph thereby creating huge opportunities for employment.  AIPMA holds job fair to address employment issues of the Industry.

He continued and said that AIPMA had its presence in East India over 5 decades, headed by Vice President (East), vertical growth of Plastic Industry, and overwhelming response for our Mega Event Plastivision India, has prompted  AIPMA  to have its own office in Kolkata so that focused service could be rendered. and accordingly inaugurated our office at  Gajraj Signature, Kolkata  -7000 026 today morning. He then gave ppt presentation on AIPMA history.

Mr.Raju Desai remarked that with a turnover of above Rs 90,000 crore and providing employment, to close to 3.5 million people, the Indian plastics industry is persistently setting new heights year after year. He informed that  rising number of industries using plastics is enough evidence to prove its immense functional appeal. At present, the domestic industry is expanding in terms of raw materials and machinery production. It is also time we acknowledge the fact that India is now becoming a leading producer of machinery.

Catering to these demands and creating be-spoke products are important for plastics processing technologies. Industry sources in India show that the injection moulding market has grown at average annual rates of 1215 per cent for the past eight years, outperforming the overall economy, which grew roughly at 6 per cent. Higher output, lower cost and energy efficiency have become the key criteria in the plastic processing industry in India.  It is essential that the manufacturing process is not over estimated as it is only the appropriate combination of machine, mould and processing technique that provides the necessary framework for effective and efficient production.

In order to achieve this, it is important to provide processors the latest in process optimisation and advanced automation, for which the forthcoming edition of PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 will prove to be the right platform for all entities related to this dynamic industry. Organised by The All India Plastics Manufacturers' Association (AIPMA), the 9^th  PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 will be hosted in Mumbai from 12 to 16 December 2013. With participation from India and more than 45 countries, the trade show will feature six new pavilions: 

1. Green Pavilion to promote industrial applications of renewable energy in energy intensive manufacturing

2. India Mold -a focused pavilion of mould making, design and application development

3. PlastiWorld - a dedicated display for processed plastics finished products

4. Plastics in Agriculture an arena to showcase the application of plastics in water conservation and crop optimisation

5. Automation & Robotics in Plastics- a massive display of innovative & productive automation engineering

6. Solar Energy Pavilion an area to demonstrate how solar energy could be utilised economically in plastics processing machinery and its resultant industries

7. Business delegations from ASEAN countries, Middle East, African continent, Latin America & Eastern European countries for our machinery exhibitors,

8. For plastic processors, we are inviting buyers from American continent, Europe & other Develop countries.

Taking business to a whole new level, PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013 will also include the industrys first ever Vendor Development Programme, where large/institutional buyers of plastics will present mid-term demand projections to a select group of suppliers.

AIPMA will also conduct a Job Fair during the show. On the marketing front, we are midst of creating digital community, which will update on a weekly basis with the latest news and product innovations. One of the most important event during this show is Indo US Business Summit. AIPMA along with SPI of USA will be organizing b2b meetings with around 50 American Business men, who will be interested doing Business with India.  For us at AIPMA and for most of our Exhibitors, the countdown has begun! PLASTIVISION INDIA in its capabilities – has transformed to become an entity more than just a trade show. We will ensure that every rupee spent by exhibitors & every minute spent by visitors are worthy of their investment.

On this note, I look forward to meet you at PLASTIVISION INDIA 2013. As a member of the plastics industry myself, I would like to leave you with a message: As part of the plastics industry, let’s keep the spirit of innovation alive and kicking as it is this spirit that is going to define the future for us!

The Press and Media threw various questions on Environmental issues, Waste Management, Usage rules of Plastics, especially Recycling and reuse etc which were satisfactorily answered by President & Mr Raju Desai.