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We really enjoyed it. Rahul Sharma was my classmate in Metallurgical Engineering B. He was in my hostel 7 too. Rahul was an excellent classmate and fellow-hostellite. I remember our meetings for exchanging quick notes one day before exams or completing important assignments! Ever since he moved in his new wing, he had developed a habit of going to the gym regularly to keep up with his more fit wingmates! It is a tragedy to see loss of life at such young age right after completing all requirements for degree in the summer of Coincidently, I got to be at his funeral in Mumbai.
I had just come back the earlier day to the hostel after a brief visit to my home town after final exams. One of my wingmates told me about the tragedy that happened in off-campus swimming pool the day before. The funeral was next day. I, along with many hostellites, classmates, warden and few professors present on campus that summer day, attended it.
It was such a grief moment for his parents he was the only child to visit the city and hostel for performing final rites. We missed Rahul during convocation when he was awarded the degree posthumously. The morning movie show and the JEE mathematics examination were the two options open to me.
This was my second attempt at the JEE with no preparation at all. I had failed the first time after working too hard for it. Thus, I made it to IIT with sheer luck. On hind sight destiny was arranging lodging and boarding for me as my father was about to retire in the next couple of months. Once at IIT my goal was to get a job and better my economic condition.
Surrounded by lots of intelligent folks and plenty of time, I developed an unusual amount of confidence. I am grateful for that to all my friends and the general IIT environment. I was ambivalent about going for higher studies abroad. I landed up in the gulf for a master!!!
I stayed in the KSA for about seven years. I headed back to India for a career in the software industry as I was fascinated by IT. A couple of failed attempts at software development career got me thinking about my abilities. My ignorance coupled with laziness and care free attitude forced me to take a break from professional life. I was holed up in a small town for a long period of time. After sending off first my mother and then my father to their final destination, I came back to run the rat race.
With no skills and zero experience the future looked bleak. As usual my luck favored me and I landed up a teaching job in Saudi Arabia. I have been working for 7 years now. The pain, trial, tribulations and injuries of the past have been healed and forgotten by now. I am married to simple village lass and we have cloned five replicas and all our time is taken up in attending to their demands. What I am today is because of the decisions I made. I am solely responsible for my status today. Believe me it is the most difficult task to do.
To do justice to everyone that is my concept of success. They never taught me this at IIT. I took a while to figure this out. Once we are out of danger the pains of life become easier and we are ready to embrace life in whatever form it comes. Well I can say I was one of the lucky guys who found his better half even before passing out. Actually I had overstayed post our BTPs as there were couple of weeks before the job started, was doing some project in the department.
My elder daughter Spruha was born in and younger son Samvid in Shifted to Pune in , continuing my consulting journey but with a dash of entrepreneurship. Partnered with Kirtane Pandit Group in Pune to set up their management consulting practice out of Pune. In started my own management consulting company called Upohan, still based in Pune. So work related travel has still remained an integral part of my life.
Its been a great time since then, especially for our kids. My parents have now retired, both are doctors. Elder brother and his wife are also doctors. He is a cancer surgeon and also is into bariatric surgery, sister-in-law is a Paeds. My son Samvid is now studying in Trinity College at Oxford where he is reading his integrated masters in Biochemistry. My wife Manasee also runs her financial consulting company.
We have always been a dog family. At one point in time we had 4 dogs and 2 cats in our house. We still have 3 dogs and 2 cats! Of late have taken to running little seriously and have been running half marathons around the country.
I consider 4 years in IIT as perhaps the best part of my life. I think it has transformed me as an individual with the kind of exposure I got and the plethora of activities beyond the academics that it allowed me to pursue. I with one porter and couple fo mules went up and I was to spend the night alone in the valley. Once I started unpacking I realized that the boxes that has come up were wrong and there was hardly any food in the same. I just had khakhra and jaggery as food and I had to survive for over 48 hours on that!
I joined IIT to do mechanical engineering - but in the first year flunked maths and that changed the trajectory of my life. I had to do the summer course and with little company at the hostels, decided to do a summer project. This is where I picked programming and enjoyed doing it for the next 3 years at IIT and for years later.
Spent my first 3 years working with him. In the days when the term pair programming was not even coined - we had a ton of fun doing not just pair but 3 way coding : Nagarwalla was a stricler for quality and contributed hugely to what I did later. I had my own startup in Bombay after that creating point of sale solutions. Had decent success but couldnt scale the business. In I moved to the US. Spent 4 years working at a startup. After working in India, working in US feels a bit too easy.
Enjoyed the boom and bust of startups from Also, worked with some incredible people from whom I learnt a lot. Joined eBay in It was my first large company and I completely surprised myself by staying there for 11 years - I thought I will last there for 2 years! Now at Google I have roughly doubled my tenure at each job change - so I am guessing I will retire from Google in 20 years when I am almost 70 : On a personal front, Married Manisha in I have a 12 year old son almost He loves basketball and now I have the arduous task of convincing him that doing math and academics is more practical than getting into NBA.
One of my brother lIves in San Jose as well and parents are with us too. So my discretionary time is pretty much with family no facebook or whatsapp. I had given up chess for 15 years but 3 years ago when I had some health issues and was off of work for about 3 months - caught up again You can find me on chess.
Took to running 3 years ago. I remember goofing around with Chia the most I wish I was a better student. I am still surprised that IIT conferred a degree on me I am glad they did as I needed it for my visa to US : All my memories - will be incriminating evidence.
Pairing with Maku to do projects I think we hired someone to do our drawings??? Picking books from Anurag Mahesh at night and having him get mad for not returning them. Being coached by Ahuja on the way to exams And yes - lots of chess. The most fun being playing blindfold with Rathi!
And the music with Dilip. Still remember us singing Scarborough fair in chorus with his guitar And the cack session in D Journey — where do I begin? Ended up in Kansas! Of all the places in the world to be in. The very heart of the Bible Belt. Got married and was preparing to move from Kansas — when I began the most difficult part of life.
I was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer with a child on the way. It was a very lonely journey but made found new friends along the way. Just as I recovered, lost a dear and close friend from H-7 Govind Kini 91 batch. Life and time march on so did we. Continue to live life with the same zest and exercise regimen.
Currently with Honeywell Engines Aero. Love spending time with family and keeping up with old and new friends. Always a member of Single Malt clubs wherever I go, even if the membership of the club is one. Thank to the tireless efforts of Anu got back in touch with a bunch of folks. A mixed bag truly. Never a fan of ragging, only tortured folks who stood for elections and were desperate enough to campaign in our wing along with infamous Kini brothers, Rahul, Berry etc.
I am still surprised we made it out of IIT. All this had nothing to do with Academica whatsoever. I do remember showing up for a mid semester exam and Dr. The very last end sem, Marik and I went to Chand Shah before the exam — it was after all the mandatory Humanities paper. That was another beautiful journey. After passing out went to Calcutta. Debarati came into my life…made me transform from a man to a gentle-man. Traveling and food taster for experimental cooking of Debarati are my passion and meeting our son at The Doon School, Dehradun is our most favourite and relaxing monthly break.
Seeing our pride growing is the most enjoyable and beautiful experience and feeling me and Debarati cherish….. Got married to Mythilee in and moved to Singapore where I lived until We were blessed with twin daughters Sucheta and Sumedha in Moved back to India Bangalore in and have been living here ever since. I have a labrador pet named Sunny who has been part of our family since After my return to Bangalore, I worked with Yahoo!
Like many others my life also got into a transformational change with the admission into IITB. A boy of a middleclass family from a midsize town Durgapur, in West Bengal was overwhelmed with the opportunity, the beautiful campus.
IIT B transformed a boy out of a pampering environment of loving parents, elder brothers to a man ready to take on the world. It was a mesmerizing experience full of highs and lows…the socials, fresher nites, mood indigo on one side, CCTs course clearing tension , boring practicals in sleepy eyes , NBD nabad…nervous break down before exams on the other side. Quite few memories as if it was just yesterday… carrying Thanewala on my shoulder and running in the muddy field during induction , jumping over the boundary wall into the open air theatre for Gary Lawyer show in Mood I after swallowing few quarters of Old Monk and dancing away to glory…running up the hill to see sunset near Vihar lake…trying to impress the beauties wearing a IIT tshirt in abus or train..
Going back 25 years — life at IIT was full on and very challenging but I got through it all intact ……I think? I remember the music room where I spent half of my IIT life and where I convinced myself that I was actually studying!
Chits, Jojo, Anju, Aarti, it was great to have you guys in my life then. Life was good. And it was going to get better…. God blessed us with a beautiful baby boy…my happiness knew no limits- especially because both sides of families came up with the same name Chinmay — no conflict whatsoever hurray!!!! Goddess Lakshmi truly arrived in the form of bundle of joy — my daughter Prachi.
Put on your seatbelts because this life roller coaster is moving very very fast…. Chinmay — my baby boy- is graduating. Prachi, to my shock, horror, amazement is now in High school! During this fast journey lasting 5 years we had many family outings to Canada and USA and yearly pilgrimage to India to attend sometimes one and sometimes up to three marriage ceremonies per year!!
Talking about job, I worked in Alcatel Australia for first 10 years in Australia after a 12 month stint in a local modem company. My main job here is managing IT projects that implement the Federal Government policies in relation to all matters relating to the Employment portfolio.
Running out of character limit - Its great to have you all back in my life- Keep in touch Junta! ChitraAarti Remember eating Hapus mangoes from the mango tree outside H10? Rajshree- your pranks!! But will be better to talk about it. Hopefully we meet soon. My research is focused on theory, modelling and simulations of materials. About 10 8 students have graduated with PhD post-graduate degree under my supervision.
I got married to Aruna in and our daughter, Kruti, was born in Among these, memorable ones include Bheemashankar and Harishchandra-gad. I also fondly remember the treats in Chakra up-scale and Shaeen economic , in addition to trip to Gorai. Given that the distance between the hostels and the classrooms was much shorter, managed to do a little better.
Got into the Financial Services out of campus and have been in it since across many organizations. Somewhere in the middle got married and now have 2 children. The big step I took last year was when I started a company goodhands.
Even though I am not fully involved in this on a full time basis, this is something I am proud of. My great memories are so many that I cannot really write about them.
Unfortunately, a month after I left India, my Father passed away…. I was touched when many from IIT reached out to offer their well wishes. Over the years I was able to stay in touch with quite a few hostel friends and one of our batch mates, Viresh Ratnakar, moved to Wisconsin and became my roommate!
Lots of fun times in Wisconsin — the best was meeting my wife Vibha Oza, who was also from Bombay. She lived a few blocks away from my house in Goregaon, but we ended up meeting in Madison, Wisconsin — go figure.
After my Ph. We welcomed our kids, Anjali and Aditya in Acton, Massachusetts where we live. We used to go hang out at Powai lake quite often. The inter-wing gaali matches were a lot of fun too! First — Sneha and I got married. After spending 11 years in the US, returned to India with 2 daughters, wife and midlife crisis As the midlife crisis continue to flourish, I tried to do many things to get over it Still in midlife crises!
Then the picture became clearer. In nutshell, my life just happens because of my impulsive decisions to make changes when I get bored. For last 10 years I have been in Pune. Getting ragged and ragging Nangu who later on became best buddy! H4 wing and friends, Organised booze sessions, grass, RLC, video nights, dunking folks in the middle of the video nights..
Great holi and bhaang. Vihar lake bike rides in monsson. Prof Sukhatme giving me an earfull for low attendance in 5th lecture of his class. Almost not graduating on time due to refusing to finish B. Organising MI professional nights. Taking care of MI security with Nangu and gang and taking half the confiscated liquor bottles to H4. Memories of H4 hostel food still make me wake up in the middle of the night And of course my dear friend Milind Kolhatkar..
H3 Bhosdika!! My flight from Bombay to San Francisco had a stopover in Singapore. I had a buffet lunch there with no labels, and discovered accidentally that I could eat non-vegetarian food.
I stayed at the International House in Berkeley, which is a huge dormitory housing about students - with a good mix of students. There were a lot of activities happening, and I made some good friends there. I drove from N. As luck would have it, my car had a malfunction at Old Faithful in Yellowstone, and I got to stay there an extra day. And it became a life-style. I ended up dropping out of the PhD program.
I was single. I did not have a plan. Some days I won money. Some days not. I travelled to Spain for a few days and then India. After a week of internship somewhere, I decided not to pursue it anymore. Back to poker. I started internet poker in Comparing internet poker to casino poker is like comparing a jet-plane to a bullock cart. So, one could win fast or lose fast. I met my wife, Cindy, in We got married in and as Cindy likes to say, she brought the luck.
Cindy is a registered nurse now. We have a daughter, Catherine, who is 16 and our son, Om was born in Here are few of the places we have traveled together: Hawaii - a few times. India - Alaska Cruise - , very relaxing. Om is in first grade now, and I am now back to doing homework, with him! It was the first time that I was really away from home. I lived in Matunga, Bombay. I vaguely recall sending.
I was introduced to my fellow hostel-mates, freshmen and returning students, through the tradition of ragging. There was only the one time that I felt uncomfortable, when a senior asked me to shave my facial hair.
Lectures, labs, workshops, projects. It was hectic at first. That was how we got to know and hang out with our fellow classmates and our teachers. I have fond memories of Professors J. Isaac and D. Random memory of Prof. Joshi and the pigeon-hole principle. Hostel life was a pleasure.
I got to socialize and bond with our fellow hostelites in the mess hall, watching TV, playing carrom or a version of table tennis in the upstairs rec-room. Soccer on the lawn was also fun. We would sometimes play bridge and drink tea all night. And somewhere in there, we got our academic work done. I went on the Himankan trip to the Uttarkhand region and I say it is probably the best trip that I have ever had. Backpacking, clear air, pristine lands and drinking water off streams in the Himalayas.
While in Dehradun, I think I had the best rice ever. It was some kind of basmati rice and exquisite. I did feel a little envious of the IIT-Madras folks as the hostel that we stayed in served dosas and sambaar for breakfast.
One of these many have read, and the other I dread to read. The day I realized that running has a cost to it; I also realized that it can help me reach my destination sooner. With a bicycle bought from a super-celebrity who thought I could jump from a running start into an open TV set box-pack which I did to my own shock and surprise!
While my inspirations took me on a universal tour of dusty shelves and unused books and pages yellowed with age; I found that plans and purposes are best made with people. Sometimes the best-made plans can separate BFFs forever. Some get the high road and some the low.
Often times, I found myself going the wrong way on a one-way street. And then, the dawning of the difference others made in my life. The realization of the vastness of the universe and how important it is to see it in a grain of sand and to hold infinity in my arms and eternity in the hour has made it all worthwhile. When do I begin to make my mark in this world or should I just let go?
Patterns of engineering began to emerge as I realized I could travel from Journal Square in New Jersey to Boston by changing trains and not surfacing even once! I also learned that entire nations could have their identities wiped out or formed where none existed. More than a journey to Middle Earth; mine has been one to the realms of space and genes. My fears revolved around not whether stalactites grew down or stalagmites grew up; but on icicles forming under chassis of vehicles.
And much like the Plato cavemen, the light as it travels to me; can only after reaching me can let me know what is and what will never be. Thus, my journey has been one of carrying the light where it could not reach. Are we there yet? Top-of-the-list: H10 - Waking up at 3am in the lounge with a blanket around me and me having no clue as to how I got there. Names and faces of concerned residents include some from my batch and of some of the juniors. Second-in-the-list: Me waking up at am in the morning of my Engineering Mechanics EMech unit assessment at am and me running and biking up MB hill like crazy.
Third-in-the-list: Learning to play Volleyball with Rajguru and the others. Very encouraging The bonfire of the boats from the old boat club. They would have sunk anyway - the wood was rotten to the core. Can we do better than that? Freaking out during my Electronic Devices exam. Freaking out at challenge problems from the Professors. Realizing I could not do Discrete Mathematics; worse still - I could not count! Smuggling Beer into the hostel.
Having Paithane smuggle my stuff under his raincoat so I could spend the weekend at home and not let people know I was not around the hostel during the weekend. How did this happen??? Gate-crashing the H-7 social. Yeah, it happened. PravinKrishna, shocked that it took so much effort to draft a statement of purpose. Even more shocking - I am applying!! Pagal Gym to be abandoned forever. Final year PAF to be remembered forever. High volume rock from all the ages in the lounges - not just in mine; but other hostels!!!
A scale drawing of Asterix on the wall of my room. Limericks for Door graffiti. Making friends and pen-friends during Mood Indigo.
Visiting Pune over the weekend instead of spending it neither at home nor hostel. Am I crazy? Wearing shorts and bathroom slippers to the lab - and losing my slippers. What have I been smoking???? Recovery in the third year. Focus on Grad school. No CAT. No GMAT. No GATE. And coursework. Can I do better? Learning about others and their successes over the horizon. Letters are received by the hostel for posting on the notice board. Unheard of anywhere else!!!
Dumping my bike on the MB hill during final year and hiking it back to the hostel and for the rest of my stay on campus. Selling it to my next-door neighbor before I left campus. There I discovered mathematics and the lack of desire to ever leave university. Unfortunately 8 years later, my advisor forced me to leave. I tried unemployment for 8 months. It suited me. Finally got a job in a software startup. Those 6 years were fun. Got married during that time. All good things end and the company went under.
Managed to land a job in finance in NYC. Still recovering from that. There should be minimum qualifications. CS weekly quizzes, cack sessions in middle wing first floor Ravi Avinash Ranjeev Arshad, academic probation Golu, contract bridge, all nighters, toe dipping in vices, walking along the massive water pipe behind IIT to I-have-no-memory-where. Weird one! New semester-clean start NSCS , classes! Boston, Fresh start, this is mathematics! Was a great learning experience, applying operational efficiency fundas in a demanding workplace with highly unionised workers.
Met Neelu, a fellow Lucknowite and got married in Work involves fair bit of travel, which is also an opportunity to meet interesting people and learn from other cultures.
Interests include sports, listening to music and watching action thrillers. Personal dream is see India as the 3rd largest aviation market by and the largest by Have two kids — Meghal, 15 and Nakshatra, 6. Both are quite a handful but also the light of our lives. We live in Gurgaon along with our pug Simba and hope to welcome you to our humble abode someday soon! We were within nudging distance of the GC.
We just had to win the soccer finals and it was ours. The soccer final was a close contest and ended in a tie-breaker. I missed the penalty and we lost the finals. The mood in the H4 mess was downcast. I broke down, covered with guilt. So did others. And then something strange happened.
Someone gave a rousing speech, some others shouted the H4 war-cry and we decided we will not give up. The last event was cycling and that had double the weightage of other sports. Our arch rival, a neighbouring hostel, was all geared up. Our only way out was to win cycling and with a huge margin.
They raided every hostel and cajoled friends with high-end sports bikes to part with them. Many resisted and received some rough treatment verbal variety only. In the end, most relented. By the next afternoon, we had 20 bikes and 20 charged-up warriors ready to kill.
The GC was ours, with a huge margin. We had redeemed ourselves. Can never forget that day. Such a roller coaster of emotions over a 24 hour period — very similar to the Aamir starrer Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar The incident is an inspiration for life.
Taught me the power of kinship, shared goals, tenacity and above all, loyalty to the flag! This was the best way to get initiated into working life.
In that year, Ravi Kaalia and I had many adventures on his scooty. Patel, Ajay, Anu, Marik, etc. It felt like an extension of the life at IITB. Only, there were a few more girls in the class. IIMB was lucky for me!
I joined the mutual fund industry and became part of Dalal Street. Though I left the funds industry in , I continue to grapple with investment ideas and models… and lose money on stocks. Its great fun, though. From hot and humid Mumbai to cold and windy Glasgow was quite a shock. I never got over seeing the sun in the sky at 9 pm. Our older daughter Girija was born in while were still in Mumbai. We spent 7 wonderful years in London.
When our second daughter Tarana was born there we decided to return to India for support with bringing up a young family. As we returned to India, I moved out of Consulting industry and joined the wave of Analytics, taking up a job with Dell in I left Dell in and started out my career as a full time entrepreneur. We have been living in Bangalore, now 8 years in Girija, now 19, is studying Medicine in Pondicherry. Tarana is now 9 and studies in 4th Grade.
Life is exciting. Rajeev Agrawal Teku and I were room neighbors. He often got feed from home. Many times, the wingmates got delivery of the food that his mother bless her so lovingly sent. However, there were times when Rajeev never got to taste the food. He never minded, though. He is a large hearted man. The hostel lounge was one of the most memorable places. Listening to Kishore Kumar songs till early in the morning. Playing carom for hours on end. Organizing socials with girls hostel and Sophia College.
It was the most happening place on campus. Electrical Engineering batch went for industrial tour around the country. However, it was great fun trying to find a smoke on the beach at midnight. IITB went crazy about that movie. It was showing in Huma at Kanjurmarg. We all watched it at least 10 times. Half the hall used to be filled with IITB students. The hall then emptied out at the interval as no-one wanted to watch Salman. IITB had awesome profs. Prof Kamath who visualized the equations inside electrical machines.
I was in tears. But, I knew that I had no chance as an electrical engineer against the likes of George and Chitra. I spent 5 years there learning about all sorts of things and then moved to northern California near the Bay area for a couple more years at the University of California at Davis.
I was fortunate to find an academic job in the mid-west and learned to live with snow and sleet. It was a special time as I met my wife there and had my daughter. After several years it was back to warmer climate and I landed at my present location in sunny Florida where I have been for more than a decade now. We have two great kids a boy and a girl. My wife is also a teacher - she teaches little kids while I teach big ones at the University.
Awful food in the mess - now I know why it was named as such. The crazy movie nights that I am sure people remember. Manesh regaling us with stories of his trip to Sweden and the loot he brought with him back. It was very interesting. For first time, I felt that whatever was learnt in 4 years is actually useful!
It made me more interested to do Masters. After doing Masters, I returned back in Here I met my would be business partner, Aniruddha Joshi. We had similar interests so we floated a company in We started doing design and supply of Chemical Engg.
Based on our Honeywell experience we diversified in to Process Automation. From , we started working for first US based client for Engineering Services. Till now, we are working in Process Automation and Engineering fields. I got married to Mrunal in Mrunal has her own set up for designing and making ladies bags, quilts, and bed sheets. Have two kids. Vallari is 16 and Vedant How time flies!
It seems it was just now that they were toddlers, and they are already reaching teenage! What is shown in 3 Idiots is probably softest version of ragging that used to be done during our time. It used to go for good six weeks. But later on one felt that ragging was better than the barrage of assignments and tests The first common year, the Engineering Drawing, workshops are all part of memory.
The 3 years at department seem to vanish at hectic speed. Memories in hostel were about games played in evening, walks to Vihar lake, galli fights inter hostel, watching Mahabharat every Sunday in TV room, year end video shows, all night playing carrom or simply listening to music in lounge or just cack sessions. Also remember the water fights inter wing! Going out to Chakra bar for birthdays by contribution by all those who had birthday in that month is unforgetable! I currently live in Queens, New York City.
Started trying it out in May and been doing that ever since -- over 15 years now. My husband Roby is a financial software engineer currently with Credit Suisse. My most treasured memories are from my hostel, especially hanging out with my best friend Sujata and our other friends Anjali, Jyoti, Arti and Kshama mostly. Especially loved the year it was at Bombay -- quite proud about being the top scorer in one of the games there ;- I also thoroughly enjoyed the end of semester all night movies at the hostel -- got introduced to so many classic movies and actors -- Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant etc etc.
I was inspired by many our professors -- Prof. Poonacha, Prof, Vasi, Prof. Desai, Prof. Shevgaonkar to name a few. Believe it or not, I have not stepped into our beautiful campus since our convo day!
Not sure which of these two will prevail over time The Journey since graduating from IIT has been very interesting — bringing me to Bangalore after living in the US for 20 years across six cities. Went to beautiful and cold Boston Boston University for my M. Other than Harvard Square, Charles River, and amazing fall colors- one of the main memory of Boston is getting mugged on the Commonwealth Avenue in Allston.
Came back to India for six month before starting my Ph. In lot of ways CMU was turning period in my life given the kind of exposure technology, industry, faculty it provided. Got married to Shivali while I was still doing my Ph. I did my thesis defense on my birthday in Got convinced by a mentor to start-up a new lab for him in Little Rock where the company wanted to make a shift from defense to commercial.
Enjoyed that thoroughly only time when I had — job. It was in Little Rock in early that our 2 year old was diagnosed with Special Needs- Life has never been same since then, but every incident teaches you new lessons. We needed lot of support and hence moved to Dallas i2 Technologies closer to friends and better medical facilities.
That took me away from Robotics, but still turned to be one of the better decisions I made. Anik made good progress here. Saanvi was born in I had a team in Mumbai and decided to move to aamchi Mumbai Nov — April Anik is in 12th grade now and we are waiting to see where next year will take us — to continued happiness and comfort for my family.
IIT Memories in words- not possible!!! I actually wrote H4 Memoirs with contribution from all the wing mates which got lost on CMU servers or between my moves I am sure it must be on some floppy drives in some storage box.
Thank you guys. He could lock his room, but people will come through the windows and being on second floor you can imagine how dangerous it was. Also, oddly- I miss the rains in the campus- with so many trees around, the rains were just beautiful. And I miss IIT lingo. And that was enough to wake me up from deep sleep.
What else? Tiffin time the meal I truly enjoyed ; Chai at Vadilal; Labs with Ajuha and Bhartiya; Watching Cricket match in the lounge, Movie Nights, evenings at Vihar lake, Holi Celebration, water fights at midnight, forcing wing mates go for Bachchan movies with me, and the list goes on. We used to do quite a bit of short-trips and those were fun- most memorable being Matheran and trekking from hostel to Sanjay Gandhi National park.
It was a thrill to be surrounded by top academic talent at IIT — variously brilliant students from all parts of the country and, from different socio-economic strata as well. Many of the classes were highly intellectually stimulating. But, closer to graduation, I realized the increasing tepidity of my interest in the field, especially in engineering research and in laboratory work.
I had already been interested in social sciences for some time and felt that I should perhaps pursue graduate studies in economics, even if this was a field that I had never formally studied before. It seems a minor issue now, but felt like a major dilemma at that time.
Nonetheless, the encouragement of my peers at IIT and, somewhat more surprisingly, the faculty who I spoke to, allowed me to move in the direction of economics with greater confidence.
I did my PhD work in international economics at Columbia University. My early years in graduate school were especially challenging ones, given my lack of background in the field. Inspiration also came from the number of world-class academics at Columbia at the time. Graduate studies and the engagement that it allowed with students from around the world, especially those coming from collapsed economic systems former Soviet bloc and other poorly performing ones for instance, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and even India deepened both my understanding of these regimes and the role of economic policy in shaping the fortunes of nations.
It also cemented my motivations to pursue a longer-term career in this area. Life is now a constant juggling act between research and university life, engagement with the policy-making world, family time and the occasional vacation, all under the constraints of a dual-career, work-travel-intensive household.
We have a precocious year old girl, Keya, whose recent queries about the world of science have far exceeded the combined knowledge and recollections of her parents — we might just have to reach out to IIT friends for help! Even amidst this distress, the extraordinary talent possessed by the student body, especially our seniors, was readily evident.
As impressed as I was by the high-order academic ability, my greater amazement was at the multidimensionality of the individuals around: Literary talent, athletic strength, musical aptitude, street smarts and smooth urbanity and a million extra-curricular fields of interest. It was a very impressive mix — and nearly thirty years later, remains unsurpassed in my experience.
I had many strong and enriching friendships — to many to name really. Recollecting my IIT years, as has been especially occasioned by our upcoming 25th reunion, now fills me with nostalgic warmth and a quiet pride. So I tried. For starters, because of IIT, I never had to go through a job interview ever. The guy calling me was yet another IIT graduate! I tell you, they are everywhere! He asked me only one question. Crack maregaa naa? Aaa jaa! These lucky breaks continued throughout my life.
Bell Labs NJ was a lot of fun! I could get away with only 2 hours of work per day. In years we sold this rag-tag outfit to a wellheeled startup. I worked really long hours in this combined company because -being well heeled- it provided all meals and sleeping facilities at the office. Also, I was single with no real life. Then we hit the IPO gold mine in All employees bought new cars. Stock market decided to suddenly wake up and punish our stock for faults of others before us.
I quit that company in and started a software outsourcing company with a friend. Oh, somewhere in between, I had a chance encounter with one of my ex co-workers from way back at Bell Labs. Back then Kristie was a software tester hired to find bugs in my code.
This time she decided to marry me so she could pursue finding bugs in everything I do, as a full time activity. Anyway, this outsourcing business was not my forte. We sold our India setup to our biggest client Polycom. For the last few years I have been tinkering with some startup ideas just to find out 6 month later than some 25 year old has already built it.
I will let you know if one of these startups or hobbies leads to some mentionable success. You gotta come to ABQ to taste it. I had only heard that it was the best engineering college in India. I had never imagined that a college could be bigger than a couple of 4 story buildings. After that first day, most of my distinct memories are alcohol and tobacco related.
I remember the first beer experience was with my wing seniors and fellow batchmates ShivKaushik and VaradJoshi and UmeshKamat. First hard liquor was with KalyanMukherjee before an on campus rock concert during first sem.
KalyanMukherjee was also the partner in crime during my first cigarette I believe the brand was GoldFlake. In order to achieve an environmentally sustainable future, companies need to adopt a joint approach.
It involves collaboration between their business goals, employees and consumers towards environment protection. The Covid pandemic has further acted as a catalyst for innovation with companies and brands focusing on sustainability and reconsidering the way they conduct businesses and how they interact with the surroundings.
Mindful of their responsibility towards the environment, compa-. It is imperative for companies to focus on reducing their carbon footprint without compromising product performance or customer comfort. This holds true especially for the chemicals sector, which can become a major source of pollution if the waste materials are not effectively managed.
India has a vibrant chemicals market that is rapidly growing in size and geography, while simultaneously demanding resources and energy. With such a drastic growth, there is a strong need for sustainable chemistry which can reduce the environmental impact. As a wide range of specialty chemicals gain traction in domestic and international markets and present a massive growth opportunity, it is crucial that specialty chemical manufacturers make sustainable chemistry their number one priority.
Brands need to actively start looking at sustainability as an important component of their corporate strategy. They need to understand that it might not result in immediate tangible benefits but may have considerable positive effects in the longer term. They need to be cognizant of the fact that their overall business goal should go beyond pleasing institutional shareholders, and thus building a strong brand reputation.
With Environment, Social, and Governance ESG becoming an important success parameter for investors and customers, growing a sustainable business can offer benefits like reaching out to attract a large pool of capital, build a stronger corporate brand and promoting a robust long-term growth, benefiting companies and investors.
Modern day consumers are well-aware and want to invest in brands that resonate best with their values, thereby providing additional incentive to businesses to adopt sustainability to boost sales.
A good product is not good enough to win over Millennials and Gen Z who are making buying decisions based on social responsibility, inclusiveness or environmental impact shown by a brand. Brands that are committed to a sustainable goal and their actions such as commissioning a greenfield manufacturing unit that ensures zero discharge of harmful chemicals are well appreciated by consumers.
This is mainly due to the customers and investors being more concerned about the need to protect resources and thereby grow in a sustainable manner. The specialty chemicals industry can imbibe sustainability at every stage through innovative design, creation, processing, use and disposal of substances. Embracing sustainability initiatives will help achieve environmental and societal needs without compromising the future of our planet Earth.
A lot of specialty chemical companies make the mistake of causing severe wastage and pollution in the race to produce finished materials in the cheapest and fastest possible way.
However, this is not sustainable from a long term environmental as well as business perspective. In order to bring about some real impact, sustainability needs to be made a strategic priority by specialty chemical companies. The emphasis should be on providing chemical solutions that promote a cleaner, healthier and more efficient world, and ensure optimum eco-efficiency in everything they do.
To be successful, the industry needs to adopt a green ethos and focus on replacing legacy harmful products with environmentally benign chemical products and processes across businesses, products, and verticals. Specialty chemical companies must also focus on being a contributor to the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals ZDHC practices, which support the implementation of sustainable chemistry and best practices to protect the consumers, workers and the environment.
They must be committed and steadfast towards adhering to ZDHC norms, ensuring zero discharge of harmful chemicals during manufacturing. The focus must be on harmonizing standards across supply chain by addressing proper chemicals management and promoting safer chemistry.
In addition to this there is a need for application of sustainable chemistry in allied industries like textile, personal care, etc. Both their manufacturing units at Silvassa and Dahej use stateof-the-art technologies, thereby ensuring cleaner and efficient operations. In addition, Rossari continues to implement green initiatives like plantation of trees in corporate offices and manufacturing premises, developing and maintaining gardens near factory premises and maintaining green bodies around its plants.
Overall, the company has begun actively monitoring ESG parameters and plan to assess the progress on a regular basis. Taking note of this fact, policies and standards are required now to ensure the sustainable development of alternate energy across energy intensive businesses. The implementation of sustainable practices comes with its set of challenges like lack of adequate policy frameworks, high initial cost of implementation, lack of funds, adoption of alternate resources etc.
Leveraging sustainable energy is the future and the best way to create a more efficient manufacturing facility. A robust energy setting is the one that uses both fossil fuels and sustainable energy as it poses large opportunities like better energy security, reduced emission of greenhouse gases, and improved access to energy, rural development and poverty eradication.
Sustainable energy options can range from either solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, bioenergy, etc. With a massive shift towards electrification and dependency on solar energy, the specialty chemical sector should adapt to the ongoing energy shift. To ensure that the advantages offset the threats, leading companies should immediately develop and start adopting sustainability for economic, social and environmental considerations. One solution.
Given the regional variances of climates, agriculture and energy needs, regional standards should be developed and refined. Ideally, each level international, regional, national and local should introduce sustainability standards for use of renewable energy by means of regulations that are consistent with the other levels.
Sustainability and profitability might not go hand in hand initially, but in the long run they prove to be beneficial, considering the finite resources of fuel and ever increasing input costs of ancillaries like power, fuel, etc.
Environment and development are the two sides of the same coin and the focus must be on mutual growth of both elements, which will prove beneficial for future generations. The onus is upon us, at individual and organizational levels, to make necessary changes for the betterment of our economy and society. To overcome these challenges and minimize their effects, the manufacturing sector will need to adopt sustainable manufacturing aggressively.
A number of areas within manufacturing can benefit greatly from the adoption of green manufacturing practices. While there are a few early adopters, more and more companies and the sector as a whole need to develop comprehensive plans to embark on this journey towards sustainable manufacturing across sectors to make sure that our growth does not have negative impact on our surroundings.
However, developing countries started faring better than relatively mature economies of the West. Over the last decade, the core of the chemical industry shifted from the West to Asia, with China being the key benefactor. Most prominent being the introduction of stringent environmental norms, which has led to the shutdown of several.
The US—China trade war have also impacted the production growth in China thereby providing an opportunity to the Indian chemical companies to enhance its market share in the global export market. Currently, the penetration of specialty chemicals in the country is lower than the global average.
Going forward, with increased focus on improving products, the intensity of specialty chemicals in these end-use domestic markets will rise. However, the industry is gradually moving towards consolidation. Thus, with gradual consolidation in the industry as established players slowly showing interest in downstream specialty and other chemicals segments, specialty chemical players would be in a better position to achieve economies of scale.
India is currently the sixth largest manufacturer of chemicals and has consistently been the one of the leading global producers in segments like dyes and pigments, polymers, and agrochemicals. While Indian companies have been leaders in several segments and have been part of the supply chain of most global customers, for investors, the focus was on China and its rapid build-up in chemicals as well as speciality chemicals, which made it integral to global supply chains.
Over the last few years, there has been a gradual shift in the underlying business, driven gradually by China further tightening environmental compliance norms and purchase managers feeling uncomfortable. In addition, escalating trade tensions between the US and China became a rallying cry for users to look elsewhere, as China became increasingly belligerent with important economies such as the US, Japan, Australia, and India. India stands out as an attractive option thanks to its strategic location, a large domestic market, skilled labour, low labour costs, etc.
India has a large pool of skilled workers and competitive wage rates while capital expenditure to build plant is also less than developed countries and at par with China. Over the past few years, the Indian speciality chemicals sector has been on the priority list of most investors, both local and global, and it was getting reflected in the significant re-rating and improved fund-flow seen into the sector.
The size of the Indian speciality chemicals sector is expected to increase sharply in coming years and companies look for backward integration and have set up units at scale significantly larger than what they have done in the past.
To take full advantage of the export market, existing players will have to update their product mix and increase specialty chemicals in their portfolio. The companies should support the implementation of products and environment standards for the benefit of the society that will also institutionalize the consumption of.
In October , the first 15 substances were included in the list. Today it has substances, grouped in entries the last update was on 17 January The role of the candidate list has been further enhanced through the introduction of the substances of concern in products Scip database under the revised waste framework Directive adopted in The Scip database already contains several million articles which are on the EU market and contain candidate list substances.
The number shows the importance of the candidate list, both as a regulatory tool for authorities and as a reporting trigger for industry, indicating the continued broad relevance of listed SVHCs in products. Substances fulfilling the REACH Article 57 criteria — ie substances which are carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic category 1A or 1B, persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic PBT , very persistent and very bio-accumulative vPvB or those giving rise to an equivalent level of concern for example, endocrine disruptors — are formally identified on the candidate list as SVHCs for eventual inclusion in the REACH authorisation list.
However, the decision on whether to include in the authorisation list SVHCs recommended by Echa, lies with the Commission, which takes into account additional aspects such as the socio-economic consequences of including a substance in Annex XIV.
However, the decision on whether to include in the authorisation list SVHCs recommended by the agency, lies with the Commission. Furthermore — and outside of the authorisation process — the candidate list has become a trigger for reporting obligations for SVHCs in substances, mixtures and articles in the supply chain in the following cases:.
REACH Article 33 reporting has had a big impact on producers and importers of assemblies of articles complex objects in various sectors. With regard to candidate list updates, suppliers of articles continue to struggle with the biannual rhythm and the absence of a grace period. The addition of broad and unspecific group entries more than 1, CAS numbers correspond to perfluorobutane sulfonic acid PFBS and its salts, including all existing, and even future salt forms unknown today poses another challenge.
In practice it is therefore often impossible to be fully compliant and timely with the strict reading of the Article 33 obligation in complex global supply chains. Given the one tonne threshold and exemption possibilities, the practical relevance of this reporting obligation has always been limited. Even though no legal requirement for substitution is associated with the inclusion of a substance in the candidate list, listing has, in practice, had a substitution effect in many cases.
Hence, the candidate list has already become a kind of substitution list in practice, where alternatives are technically, and economically, feasible for companies. While these Scip notification and database requirements are designed to inform waste treatment operators about the presence of SVHCs in articles after becoming waste, their most obvious practical function to-.
This includes information on non-waste articles being available to the public, something which could not be achieved through the REACH reporting provisions Articles 7 2 and On the other hand, occupational exposure limits OELs under the EU occupational safety and health OSH legislation have been, or are being, introduced or revised for several candidate list substances used at workplaces, such as cadmium, cobalt salts, and lead and its compounds.
Thus, in practice the candidate list has become a pool of SVHCs to be prioritised for further regulatory action in a broader sense — and a trigger for reporting obligations, especially regarding the presence of candidate list SVHCs in industrial and consumer products.
A dynamic link of candidate list entries with CLP Annex VI Part 3 harmonised classification and labelling table is also being considered. Another question is how the future role of the candidate list will evolve as a priority tool and in relation to industry duties. The Commission also acknowledges that the list could remain useful for identifying substances to be tracked under Articles 7 2 and 33, as well as a tool for future instruments that might be developed under the sustainable products initiative SPI , seemingly referring to the new instrument of a digital product passport considered under the SPI.
What appears more open at this point, and surely subject to controversy, is the further option raised by the Commission to introduce a new legal obligation for downstream users regarding candidate list substances. The idea is to gather more advanced information on uses of substances on the list, amounts used, exposure, emissions and waste management, as well as on possible alternatives and substitution activities.
This information could be maintained and published by Echa to facilitate substitution. Such reporting could even be regularly, for example, annually, and in the view of the Commission improve the information basis.
It is unclear, as of today, who should be obliged to provide such advanced information, what specific data are to be provided and how any such requirement would relate to the REACH registration provisions.
This is to be explored as part of another Commission study on increased information on uses and exposure for registration, and in the impact assessment for the REACH revision.
Downstream users might have to provide proof of their notification compliance to the national enforcement authorities. This will likely be clarified beyond authorisation, and thus further enhanced. However, there will be a need for clarity as to how the hazard classes for candidate listing will relate to the planned extension of hazard classes for restrictions following the generic approach to risk management under REACH Article 68 2.
The hazard classes in both cases partly overlap. If restrictions based on an extended use of REACH Article 68 2 could be imposed without prior candidate listing which is the case today , the predictability offered by the candidate list could be jeopardised. Further assessments and discussions around the evolution of the candidate list under a renewed REACH are going to take place as part of the ongoing study for the Commission on revising the authorisation and restriction provisions, and the study on increased information on uses and exposure for registration.
Interested stakeholders are advised to closely follow these studies and the discussions in Caracal next meeting is on 27 January , and look to participate in the relevant consultations and workshops. Developing bonding solutions for modern application challenges Innovating with customers through joint development Building strong and collaborative partnerships across the value chain.
They also help to lay the foundation of a new era of industrial design and manufacturing under resource constraints. Due to its innovation, versatility, and flexibility — not only in selecting technologies and raw materials — the industry now has many options that contribute positively to the way products are conceived and manufactured, reused, or recycled. We are seeing a rise for greener products, as regulations around the handling of chemicals have become tighter and with governments setting up strict laws, like the single-use plastic ban.
Solutions that support strong urbanization, smart cities, and the Internet of Things IoT also are in demand as they are part of many home appliances or vehicles that are being used today. The green and sustainable segment of. Our team of chemists has formulated a flame-retardant and low-density polyurethane foam to provide thermal insulation to electric vehicles battery cells and stabilize the temperature inside the battery pack.
Sustainability is a megatrend that continues to gain steam, and manufacturers will only be successful if they manage to be adaptable and start embedding sustainability into everything they do and with everyone they work. Good environmental performance and business value can and should coexist in a competitive market. Companies that are already transforming their operating models and thoughtfully considering environmental impact as a pivotal force, will help drive their results in the best customers, suppliers, and people wanting to work with them.
Therefore, the need for such adhesives has reached a completely new level. The most substantial contributions adhesive producers make in the realm of sustainability are through product innovation, reducing the environmental impact of production processes, and improving the sustainable performance of manufactured products through their formulations. Fuller is also looking for alternative raw materials with less footprint and disposing materials without harming the planet in.
For e. And while our company is supporting the future of electric transportation and providing high-performing applications for everything from vehicle assembly, interior and exterior lighting, and interior trim, a key element of an electric vehicle is battery performance and safety. We believe the focus right now is for the industry to create smart materials and systems that significantly reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make products more sustainable by helping manufacturers do more with less.
That way, innovation must be at the centre of everything we do and a key driver of growth with the goal to improve operations, product applications, and finished goods.
From increasing transparency to biobased, biodegradable or compostable claims on the articles to widening country plans for recycling products, there are a number of sustainability-driven options for the adhesives industry.
The term bio-based adhesives generally refer to systems that contain certain percentages of raw materials from renewable resources. For instance, water-based adhesives, the first bio-based formulations we saw in the market, were conceived for generic applications, bringing advantages to segments like packaging, furniture and textile. However, with the fast technology advances, these adhesive solutions started being developed for other industries.
Currently, the packaging industry is one. When bio-based adhesives are optimized with raw materials that can be composted under specific conditions, they can be classified as biodegradable or compostable. These two terms are often used as synonyms, nonetheless, they are not exactly the same. In fact, the main difference is that biodegradable products break down naturally and return to nature whereas compostable requires specific settings to break down and provides earth with nutrients once the material has completely broken down.
While all compostable material is biodegradable, not all biodegradable material is compostable. Based on these approaches, we can certainly say adhesives are a key enabler for producing more sustainable products, and whether they are bio-based, compostable, or recyclable and repulpable, adhesives are likely to grow in popularity in near future since they support the global greener ecosystems.
Also, not everything that is recyclable is, at the same time, compostable. And here, scientists and regulatory experts play an important role as they need to be at the forefront of keeping track of the dynamic regulations that govern the tran-. As mentioned, more and more, consumers are demanding that product manufacturers reduce their environmental footprint and use fewer hazardous chemicals and substances of very high concern SVHCs and contribute to biodegradability and the use of renewable materials.
When thinking about next generation adhesive solutions, the goal is that adhesive makers will need to understand the full lifecycle - recyclability, bonding and debonding on demand and, at the end of every product life, use of renewable or bio-based raw materials, and alternative cure processes. High expectation is that materials need to be responsibly sourced, enhance energy efficiency, and enable recycling to create an efficient cradle to cradle loop and facilitate responsible innovation.
This is both an exciting and challenging period for our industry. Collaboration throughout the supply chain is vital if we are to achieve changes that improve the world for this generation of consumers and beyond.
Being more sustainable can mean different things to different people. It could be easy to recycle or have a low carbon footprint or designed using circular economy principles. But most likely, it will be a combination of all these, in addition to complying with current and possible future regulations. The environmental challenges facing the world and the subsequent demand for low environmental impact products needs a multi-faceted and collaborative approach.
It is lightweight and has a wide variety of textures and colours, making it ideal for various types of merchandise. Furthermore, plastic has ideal characteristics, being waterproof, thermal resistant, and electric resistant, all which make it a great replacement for other substances. Plastic pellets are tiny plastic granules. The majority of consumer products today are made from plastic pellets which are melted down and remodelled into the required shape; this is why they are an incredibly important material for many industries, both in Thailand and around the world.
Plastic pellets are indispensable in the production process, particularly for the production of medical equipment and electronic devices, which is growing rapidly. Thus, the plastic pellet market has great potential to grow and the average annual sales are also expected to soar. Premier Tech, as a leading automatic bagging machine manufacturer, hopes to. One of the biggest challenges for plastic manufacturers is the eco-friendly trend with consumers trying to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics in order to lower their impact on the environment, biodegradable and reusable plastics, are therefore, in higher demand.
This upturn could be attributed to the lessons and preparations, the global business industry has taken over the course of the year, that have allowed them to recover and even flourish. As a result, the sales of plastic products, as well as exports, are expected to grow at least percent this year. Nevertheless, there are still many factors that may affect business growth which companies need to be aware of and find proper solutions. They are by-product of the distillation of crude oil and the separation of natural gas.
As a result, the price of crude oil, an exhausted resource, is subject to volatile price fluctuations which therefore directly impact the cost of plastic production.
The rise of E-commerce has also resulted in the production of many new products. And in the food industry, there has also been high demand for plastic packaging. Additionally, many countries have enforced measures to ban or reduce the use of plastic. This directly affects the export industry and is something companies need to be aware of, and adapt to, accordingly. Consumer behaviour varies with changes in society and trends around the world.
The trend for plastic use is ever-changing. In Thailand, specifically, there remains high demand for plastics in the following industries: Medical equipment: As medical technology advances, there is higher demand for plastic in the production of protective equipment, healthcare equipment, and various tools, in order to support the growing number of patients in various medical services.
Consumer products: It is an ever-growing business group that requires a lot of plastic packaging for a variety of uses including cleaning supplies, cosmetics, snacks, ready meals, and sachets. The rise of delivery and takeaway businesses also means there has been an increase in plastic packaging, from boxes and bags to cutlery.
Electronic parts: Smartphones, computers, and electrical appliances are constantly evolving. Plus, they are always in high demand throughout the world. As a result, the sales of plastic pellets to these companies is growing. Construction: The expansion of infrastructure, as well as new construction projects in the private sector, have led to an increase in the use of plastic equipment.
Additionally, many new building materials have been developed that focus on strength, toughness, durability, and being lightweight; all of which are the winning characteristics of plastic. Expand your customer base to include growing businesses that require a lot of plastic, and also businesses that use plastics to produce high-value products such as medical equipment, IT equipment, and car parts. Despite the campaign to phase out single-use plastics, manufacturers will not have to slow down their entire production but they can find new opportunities by producing biodegradable plastics instead.
The most important step is to optimize production process and one can do so by reducing labour-related tasks and transitioning them to automated solutions. So, you can weigh the product and fill the bags at the same time.
With the reduced need for human intervention during the process, workers can then be. These are our basic tips for choosing an automatic bagging machine.
Additionally, we know that after-sales service is just as important. We are also a total solution provider and can help design custom-made machines that best suit your factory to effectively enhance your business performance. Key milestones achieved by Aarti Industries in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals businesses during FY ? With our integrated value chain, diversified product mix, strong technical capabilities, and robust track record, the company emerged as a global partner of choice.
The pharmaceutical division has been growing consistently over the past few years. To create an overall value for our shareholders, and also to enable management of the company to focus and adopt the relevant strategies necessary for promoting growth and expansion, the demerger is being carried out. The demerger of. Strengthening our manufacturing capability, we plan to increase our manufacturing capacity by 1, KL with installation of reactors under 10 manufacturing blocks in the next 5 years.
How will the newly operationalised Phase 2 Unit at Dahej SEZ help the company to diversify its agrochemical intermediates business? The new chlorination unit at Jhagadia and specialty chemicals manufacturing unit at Dahej SEZ will cater to end use applications of polymer additives, agrochemicals, dyes pigments, and other speciality chemicals. With this facility, the Phase 2 unit at Dahej SEZ operational, our existing capacity for the intermediate has been expanded by almost 30 times.
This chemical intermediate goes into multiple agro-technical applications as a herbicide and biocide. We plan to supply the intermediate to multiple customers involved in the manufacturing of the technical applications. This will also provide an opportunity for forward integration. Aarti Research and Technology Centre ARTC is a state-of-the-art research facility, which has been set up to accelerate the development of new products driving future.
We are also working on setting up an engineering lab and an industrial biology. In the past couple of years, a total of 5, experiments have been conducted at ARTC.
The objective of this research centre is to develop the most optimal and cost-effective process for a given product, with a primary emphasis on process safety and environmental impact. This has led us to develop some process innovations in the last 2 years and we have filed for provisional patents for some of these innovations.
Our strategy is to create chemistry and technology platforms and our value-chain approach has enabled us to create a robust product pipeline to drive growth in future.
Our advanced analytical and process safety services offerings are now available for broader industries to specifically facilitate MSMEs. The company has conducted its materiality assessment in FY by interacting with its internal and external stakeholders to identify the focus areas.
The focus areas are: Energy and carbon emission; water and effluent; occupational health and safety; compliance; human rights; and business ethics. ESG has provided us with significant opportunities to optimize and expand our product portfolio. Our product portfolio will gradually increase with the products manufactured from less hazardous processes or green chemistry having minimal impact on the environment.
In the chemical segment, our primary focus in FY23 is to develop and scale up products that form a part of our chlorotoluene val-.
We are developing capabilities in new chemistries such as photochlorination, ammoxidation and speciality fluorination. We are also working on some customer-specific projects that may reach the commercial stage in FY We are planning to invest more than Rs. New verticals where you are focusing during FY and its impact? For FY , we are focussed. At the same time, we are working on creating long-term partnerships with global companies to manufacture in India.
We are exploring opportunities in sunrise sectors such as battery and electronic chemicals and planning our foray into industrial biotechnology. Projects where you are investing? Our Capex target for FY has been Rs. The company is also undertaking several expansion, asset restoration, and sustainability initiatives across existing facilities.
What are your FY plans for sustainability? Our FY plans are focused on climate change issues. Aarti Industries is going for a quantum jump in reduction of its emissions through the use of renewables in its energy mix and other strategic initiatives. We are planning for more dual fired boilers coal and biofuel. We have signed a contract for Through these initiatives, we will substantially reduce our carbon footprint. We have planned several initiatives for enhancing the process safety across all our processes to make our operation intrinsically safe.
We are also collaborating with business partners to imbibe ESG practices in their operations to ensure a sustainable supply chain. Specialty chemicals industry is becoming an integral part of the larger global chemical sector. The global chemical sector is dominated by China with a market share of about 35 percent and is fol-.
So, India has a long way to go. Currently, we have a market share of about 3 percent but we are an emerging player in global chemical sector. It is very heartening to see chemical sector leaders in India looking at specialty chemicals as a major vehicle for growth, particularly as we are planning to ramp up our product and capacity.
So, there is great scope for growth and great room for exponentially pushing the barriers. The industry is moving sharply from single digit to double digit growth in years to come. We are very optimistic about India, as we believe the inherent knowledge base, exposure in terms of low cost manufacturing base, and depth in science will be of great help. The ability for us to use Indian frugal engineering, strong understanding of consumer connect, and back it up with the very large pool of labour which will bode well for India.
Tata Chemicals has been a science based company ever since its incorporation. So it has a 80 plus year long history. There is a mission of the company which says serving society through science and it guides us on our journey all through. At the very core remains our value system which keeps us grounded in areas we work on. Currently, we are working on a few areas which include a prebiotic fibre to promote gut health.
The other aspect is highly-dispersible silica through a green patented technology which will help improve the performance of tyres, help reduce the consumption of fuels and help build sustainability. We have been recognized by our peers along the way. We have recently won the quality innovation award at an international level. In this process, we build businesses which have a unique brand and value proposition. The company has a cumulative of patents and we have got applications with various patent offices.
Eight patents have been granted in this financial year and we are focused on generating our intellectual capital besides patents also to international. We have worked on nanotechnology in the past and to push the barriers of nanotech into new territories.
We had a nano zinc oxide product for replacing harmful UV blockers, so that it could be used in paints and cosmetics. During the pandemic, we quickly pivoted and made a nono-zinc coated textile because of its inherent anti-microbial properties. It was used in personal protective equipment, facemasks during COVID pandemic in order to protect the frontline workers. Initiatives taken by the company to enhance a portfolio of value-added, green, and patented products to develop a new grade of silica?
The tyre industry has a sharp focus on technology innovation so that the tyres are more safe and much more sustainable. Now considering that percent of the fuel. And highly dispersible silica is emerging as an excellent solution as tyre manufacturers are using it as a re-enforcement pillar. It offers higher reinforcement ability, improves fuel efficiency because it rolls down the resistance in tyres.
On the other hand, if you look at traditional re-enforcement reagents like carbon black, they have got higher rolling efficiency, resulting in higher consumption of fuels. The highly dispersible silica is successfully reducing the use of carbon black in the tyre industry. India is one of the largest producers of tyres at the production of million units which. Hence, there is a demand for more and more green tires in future. At Tata Chemicals, we looked at the space and said can we start from waste.
We began with rice husk and extracted silica and used a green chemistry route to make it highly dispersible silica grade which can go to the tyres.
For example, the silica can reduce rolling resistance right up to 20 percent. This approximates to about percent of fuel savings. Another aspect is when you put silica into it, it increases the lifespan of the tires. Another example is we are all moving towards electric vehicles EVs and there is a demand for EVs for long range with lower emissions.
So there is an even better need for tyres which will have a positive impact on rolling resistance so that the car will have absolutely no noise and will be more energy efficient and obviously, will have a lower impact on the environment. This is the area we are focusing on and with the collaborative approach along with automotive and tyre companies, there is a need for creating products that have long term sustainability.
What is the quality of silica that you get from rice husk? Rice husk ash is collected and goes into boilers as agri-waste fuel but the ability to now look at the same rice husk ash and ability to extract silica has become important.
And the grade is excellent as we are able to extract silica that is matching properties, characteristics, and particle size as of commercially available synthetic silica and delivers excellent performance. So while highly dispersible silica by itself is the sustainable product in tyres, the fact that you are able to extract it from the rice husk ash which is an agri-waste itself makes it even more sustainable. How has the company ensured that its ESG initiatives protect the environment, human health, and safety it is also reflected in its product portfolio?
ESG at Tata Chemicals is factored around three areas. First, shared values which are focused on long-term inclusive growth and relationship with all stakeholders. Second, is minimizing our footprint and working closely with our manufacturing units, the decisions we make in technology and long term sustainable growth.
For example we have got a corporate structure on sustainability policy. We have signed up two science based target initiatives. We are among the very first companies in the chemistry sector to do that. We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint. From the factory point of view, all of this translates into key actions which are about not just looking at the environment but also ensuring that we promote a low carbon economy and reduce our environmental footprint.
So our factories have got risk assessment and waste management mapping done. On our agri side we promote smart agriculture. There is a continuous improvement in the way we work on our waste material recycling of water and a number of carbon abatement initiatives for carbon deduction to achieve net zero at our various factories.
They are also working on the technology standpoint on highly efficient deep sea discharge or it could also be the plantation of mangroves. As a company we work with multiple institutions on natural carbon sinks to promote biodiversity.
So, Mithapur unit focuses on delivering value. For example we focus on the removal of hazardous material in the value chain or the fact that the raw material ingredient that we will focus on will come in from waste or can we focus on circular economy. For instance, in our factory in Mithapur, there is no waste that gets left out. Finally, we also focus on those technologies that will help save the environment such as highly dispersible silica and agroponics, the next generation of agriculture.
Our science and technology centre at Mithapur focuses on customer and critical plant issues. This unit has been working ever since the pioneering of iodization of the salt, the vacuum dried salt in India. The centre work on the use of waste effluent solids for the use of cement as a product. The centre constantly work on CO2 water based pulling because it is a water deficient region.
Sea water for brine preparation so that we can use it for soda ash manufacturing. The efficient use of limestone, boiler, fly-ash, bromine de-. How is the Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre, Pune making a difference to the food and fuel, energy and environment? Kindly share details on projects in the areas of food, nanotechnology, and biotechnology that are currently underway? At the Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre, Pune, we continue to focus on developing cutting edge science.
This is again linked to our mission to serve society with science. We have been looking at not just the current areas of performance materials, nutrition sciences, advanced materials, nanotechnology and biotechnology but we are also focused on seeding new capabilities of the future.
We are looking at synthetic biology which is the simulation, gene synthesis, and over-expression of enzymes and bio-actives. We are focused on the agriculture sector on RJA technology which will help in crops. We are strengthening our gene editing technologies in our seeds division, improving our bio-active compounds in the medicinal plants under agroponics as I mentioned.
Looking at green chemistry solutions, pro-chemistries to name a few. We are already using Machine Learning for genomic prediction in Maize. Finally, we also aim to address issues that are critical to industry, not just the Tata Chemicals but the chemistry sector and chemical industry sector at large.
We are focused on issues such as carbon dioxide emission, sustainability, hydrogen economy, circular economy, waste management and waste to wealth and waste to energy as well. These are the areas we are focusing on currently and in the future.
With multi-disciplinary experts closely watching every possible aspect of the process, we give you a value generating solution. For further details contact us: enquiry ingenero. The Indian specialty chemicals industry currently comprises a fraction of the global market. One of our recent milestones was the launch of our new chlor-alkali site at Balabhadrapuram in Andhra Pradesh.
We also announced the doubling of our epoxy manufacturing capacity and expanding our overseas operations in inorganic phosphates and sulphites. We are committed to profitable growth across our business.
For one, we got into the business quite early. The Aditya Birla Group was probably the first industrial house to expand outside. India, and the setting up of our operations in Thailand was a pioneering step. Incidentally, not many people know that Aditya Birla, was a chemical engineer from MIT, and he was at the forefront of setting up of our businesses in peroxides, sulphites, phosphates, and chlor-alkali.
Secondly, we always aimed to develop leadership positions in each of these businesses. Within certain niche segments of phosphates and sulphites, like blends and value-added formulations, we are leaders as well. Our peroxide business enjoys market leadership in Southeast Asia, particularly in high-purity hydrogen peroxides used for electronic manufacturing.
During Covid, ensuring public hygiene was the biggest priority, and we provided a robust platform to authorities and society at large to deal with the pandemic and beyond. Clean and safe water is a large part of public health and hygiene, and chlorine has a big role to play. With strong chlor-alkali portfolio, we were able to supply vital chlorine-based products to municipal authorities, government bodies like the Namami Gange Programme team, as well as to private industries to tackle the hygiene challenge.
We are bullish on epoxy, because of the growth in sectors like automotive, electronics, and construction. We are also creating the next generation of long-chain chlorinated paraffin wax plasticisers that have a better sustainability and toxicity profile. This is also required because the water quality across sources like rivers and wells varies widely, and hence the solution also varies.
Besides this, some of our customers in the chlorine value chain also developed pharma products for medical use during the pandemic. Did you experience any fluctuation in demand due to Covid?
Yes, but the upside has been more than the downside. While there was a demand reduction for chlorine products used in the PVC industry due to the slump in construction, the demand for products related to water and sanitation, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals increased. Another area that was positively impacted was consumer electronics, because people were staying at home and using mobile phones and laptops much more, which drove up the demand for epoxy.
The small size of the Indian specialty industry creates a huge runway for growth. For instance, Aditya Birla Chemicals is capitalising on the growth potential in the chlor-alkali value chain by adding manufacturing units for epichlorohydrin and chloromethane in Gujarat, and a monochloroacetic acid factory in Andhra Pradesh.
The same goes for the food industry, which will demand more food additives, triggering demand for phosphates and sulphites. We are also wevaluating other products and chemistries to get into. How distributed production centres enabled Aditya Birla Group to meet global demand? Our epoxy portfolio has customers across Asia, and we serve them through manufacturing units in India, Thailand, and Germany.
These products find application in industries like wind energy, automotive coatings and composites, etc. The demand for phosphates and sulphites is completely global. We have a. How are global sustainability trends affecting your business? There are two parts to it. As a business we are shifting gradually to renewable power, because power is a big requirement for us.
Whenever we set up a new plant,. Simultaneously, we make products more sustainable across value chains. For instance, the strength-to-weight ratio of our epoxies makes them ideal for reducing fuel consumption in conventional automobiles and for electric cars. In India, we face huge farm-to-table food wastages due to inefficient transport and storage.
Additives that improve shelf-life extension form an important part of a sustainable future. Ditto for water. In a water-scarce country like India, maximising water potability through better treatment is very important in the global warming context. We have some exciting products in the customer trial stage. The first is Recyclamine, a patented technology that allows epoxy thermosets which are non-recyclable to now be recovered, reused, and repurposed.
Through this technology, we can facilitate end-of-life recycling and zero waste manufacturing thus moving closer towards a circular economy. This provides a paradigm shift in many industries that use epoxy based composites, minimizing ecological, environmental, and societal impacts of composite waste. Second, we are creating the next generation of long-chain chlorinated paraffin wax plasticisers that have a better sustainability and toxicity profile.
These are just a couple of recent examples. What are the growth areas you are targeting in and beyond? Our growth areas essentially align with the growth of the industry. India is seeing strong demand growth more or less across all sectors of the economy, which means that the growth is very broad based and independent of any particular end market or customer.
What are the global trends in the synthetic rubber and synthetic latex sector in FY and what will be its likely impact on India? There are several important trends affecting the emulsion polymer industry both synthetic rubber and latex. In the medium term, the focus for all companies and countries is on being self-sufficient aatmanirbhar with supply chain, given the uncertainties in many parts of the world due to Covid, escalating energy prices as well as shipping prices, and availability.
In the medium to long term, the focus should be on environment. Apcotex has started its ESG journey with an objective to be carbon and water neutral over the next few years. Apcotex Industries is a leading manufacturer of synthetic rubber, synthetic latex, and emulsion polymers.
India remains our strategic market and we have high market share in India across all our products but we still see many opportunities for growth in our country. Apcotex is focused on specialty emulsion polymers for now since that is our core competence and we see enough opportunity in our current range of products and a few adjacencies. We continue to deepen and broaden our customer base in India and abroad. We continue to invest in new applications as well as new products which are within our expertise.
Key milestones achieved by Apcotex Industries during FY ? FY was our best year in terms of all financial metrics. India remains our strategic market and we have high market share in India across all our products we believe we are 1 across most of our product categories but we still see many opportunities.
Besides completing a slew of debottlenecking projects in FY , we embarked on two major brownfield expansion projects in our plants in Gujarat and Maharashtra which will be completed in FY What are Apcotex plans for FY ? The largest Capex spend in the history of our company will happen in FY Two other big areas for us this year will be ESG and exploiting new digital technologies to improve both growth.
We have leveraged these strengths well to increase market share in India and increase sales outside India. How is the company striking a balance between environment-friendly policies and sustainable growth?
When are you planning to achieve Net Carbon Zero? We believe environment-friendly policies and growth are not at odds against each other. On the contrary they are complementary. The world has learned the hard way and companies have to keep improving and adapt quickly. We are also working towards GreenCo certification this year. As a company we focus on health and education for our CSR initiatives. Our major CSR initiatives in the last few years have been around our Gujarat factory where we are working with NGOs Edelgive and Uthaan to improve health and sanitation.
We have also contributed significantly towards paediatric cancer patients in Mumbai through an NGO called St.
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