Chapter II Historical Perspective - Chemical Industry In West Bengal

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1 Chapter II Historical Perspective - Chemical Industry In West Bengal

2 Chapter -II HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE - CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN WEST BENGAL Industry promotes the economy. Hence, industrial growth considered to be a pre-requisite for economic development. India started her quest for industrial development after independence in The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 marked the beginning of the evolution of the Indian Industrial Policy. India had a world-wide reputation for her cottage and household industries. India is a traditional land of consumer goods although in modem large-scale manufacturing industry is of recent origin. The colonial authority did not push vigorously for industrial modernization. Despite its market and resource potential, industrial development of the country remained restricted. According to 1991 census only 7.9 million labours are employed in about 96,000 registered factories. SI. no. Table:2.1 Selected industries -employment and output in India, Industries Employment Value added by manufacturing In percentage 1. Food products and beverages Textiles(cotton, woolen and jute) Wood Paper Leather Rubber Chemical and chemical products Non-metal minerals Basic metals and metal products Electrical machinery Transport equipment Electricity Repair service Others Source: Statistical Outline of India, , Bombay,

3 Selected industries -employment and output in India, Food products Textiles Wood Paper Leather 5" c Rubber v> 1 Chemical Non-metal Basic metals Electrical machinery Transport equipment Electricity Repair service Others E Value added by manufacturing Employment Source: Statistical Outline of India, , Bombay, 1989 (Table-2.1) Fig. 2.1 The diagram shows that the percentage of workers employed in textile industry were highest and the value added by manufacturing of cotton, woolen and jute products were also very high compared to the industries like rubber, leather, electrical machinery and transport equipment etc. Least number of workers was engaged in wood industries. Though the percentage of workers engaged in chemical and chemical products industries was only 6.5, the value added by the production was 12.3 percent. In India development of chemical industry emerged to meet the requirements of the textile industry. The first cotton spinning mill was established near Calcutta in By 1925 however, the centre of gravity of the industry had shifted from Bengal to Bombay because of the black cotton soil in the western part of India. The predominance of Maharashtra and Gujarat in the chemical field may be traced to the thriving textile industry which required synthetic dyes, bleaching and sizing agents, surface active materials, finished chemicals etc. Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works were started in 1892 by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy. It was converted into a limited company in In 1905 the factory was shifted from 91, Upper Circular Road to Maniktala, a suburb of Calcutta. The Panihati factory was added in 1922 and the coal-tar distillation plant and heavy chemical plants were started there. In there were 1400 workers producing a wide range of chemical Chapter -II Historical Perspective - Chemical Industry In 1 Vest Bengal 13

4 products for Bengal Chemical. The first contact sulphuric acid was started by Bengal Chemical in Thus the chemical industry in India first took its roots in Bengal. Another pioneering chemical company successfully operating in early thirties was the Calcutta Chemical Company Limited. This company developed or manufactured a series of toilet soap and chemical products based on neem. They also developed processes for the manufacture of stearic and oielic acid, lactic acid, citrates etc. The enterprise named Bengal immunity is worth mentioning in this connection which by 1928 was manufacturing a number of biological products. During the Second World War, it became the first organization to produce vaccine and sera in this company. Two other pharmaceutical companies in Bengal viz, the Standard Pharmaceutical Works (established in 1934) and the East India Pharmaceutical Works (established in 1936) rendered outstanding development work in the field of antibiotics and synthetic drugs. Later these companies carried out some of their research in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. A number of industrial and fine chemicals such as sodium dichromate, sodium sulphide, chloroform and ether were produced through indigenous endeavor during the thirties in Bengal. The paint industry also started in Calcutta and the first Indian-owned paint manufacturer was the Napier Paint Works. Manufacture of lead-acid storage batteries was started in 1931 and the first indigenous dry batteries were made in Calcutta in A few of the indigenous chemical enterprises had started to compete with imported products, but their operations were mostly in small scale. Most of them even could not afford to employ chemical engineers. The all India picture of chemical industry was not very different during pre-independence years. Until 1954, production of organic chemicals in India was based primarily on fermentation alcohol. Ethyl alcohol considered being an important source to synthesize organic chemicals such as acetic acid, vinyl acetate, SBR synthetic rubber etc. The country entered into the petrochemical field in 1966 when Union Carbide s Naphtha Cracker at Trombay was commissioned. After independence the production of man-made fibres was confined to cellulosics. Today, the large and rapidly growing synthetic fibre 14

5 industry is dominated by polyester, nylon and acrylic fibres all of which are made from petrochemical byproducts. The SBR unit at Bareilly and the cis-polybutadiene unit at Baroda are still the major synthetic rubber plant. Organized production of synthetic ammonia for the fertilizer industry was started in 1941 by Mysore Chemicals and Fertilizers at Belagula. This plant was based on electrolysis of water and had a capacity of only 5 tonnes per day. In fact, the Indian fertilizer industry has the experience of operating ammonia plants with almost all possible varieties of feedstock. Presently, natural gas is being used in all new ammonia plants as the feed and these plants have a single-steam capacity of 1350 tonnes per day of ammonia. One of the greatest obstacles in the progress of the chemical industry in India is the crisis of sulphur. The gypsum is an indigenous sulphur bearing raw material but it has a number of limitations. It is also a feed material for the production of ammonium sulphate. Though ammonium nitrate is a cheaper product in terms of total nitrogen content, the explosive characteristics, hygroscopic nature, leaching in soil make some obstruction in its proper utilization. Alkali industry was first established in India during the World War II. The first soda ash factory at Mithapur was commissioned by the Tata Chemicals in In 1941, ACCI established a caustic soda factory in Calcutta. At about the same time, another caustic soda factory was built at Mettur in Madras presidency. Both these caustic soda plants had a production capacity of 5 tonnes per day each. Prior to 1950, many of the byproducts now in production were imported mainly from United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland. The Arlabs established in Bombay was the first company to produce rapid colours in Within a short time this industry established a number of small and medium scale units which have been producing and successfully exporting various dyes and intermediates. Many other chemical products which are useful for our daily life were not produced in the country before the fifties. The first plant which produced an insecticide on a commercial basis was set up in the year The public sector DDT plant came into existence in Concrete steps to establish synthetic detergent industry in India were initiated in 15

6 1950. Commercial production of many of the important chemical products commenced during the war years. The chemical industry in West Bengal has become a part of the daily life. In almost all walks of life directly or indirectly it plays a vital role. As for example, a writer uses paper and ink and a builder uses glass, cement and plastic materials. A common person uses made out of chemically treated leathers, rubber or other synthetic materials. Similarly many use nylon socks, terylene suits and shirts, tie and spectacles. All these are manufactured from the acetate. Men in the villages and towns use soap etc. prepared chemically and use drugs for preventive and medical purposes. The farmers in the field use chemical fertilizers and pesticides for higher agricultural outputs. Use of vanaspati, ice cream, tea and coffee etc. is widespread and common. They have been chemically processed at various stages. It covers the fields of fertilizers, detergents, plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals, photographic materials, explosives etc. Although this industry is of recent origin, great strides have been taken by it during the last decades. If money investment is any criterion to gauge the growth of importance of any industry it was Rs. 650 crores in the third five year plan as against a provision of Rs.1694 crores in the fourth five year plan. The annual growth rate of the industry has almost been doubled the faster than that of the other industries of the state of West Bengal. During the recent industrial development chemical industries are capable of holding their prestigious position. It plays a vital role in mechanical and process industries because various types of chemicals are used as raw materials in these industries. The chemical industry itself has to depend on raw chemicals in various forms for the production of consumer goods. A large number of industries in the state either directly or indirectly depend on the development of chemical industries. The production of dyes used in colours needed for the textile goods. Acid, alkali and paint industries make sure their steady growth in this state due to the plentiful supply of raw chemicals. In the field of agriculture and manufacturing of drugs the chemical industry plays a vital role. During First World War, initiation of the chemical industry took place. The post war development of this industry can be grouped into three phases. 16

7 In 1921, there were only 14 large chemical works, scattered all over the country. These chemical companies provided direct employment to 2392 workers and manufactured sulphuric acids and some chemicals derived from it. Due to their primitive manufacturing process the products are very much corrosive in nature. Moreover, the high transport cost and high packing expenses help these indigenous products to protect naturally from foreign competition. Following the representation from the Indian manufacturers of sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, magnesium sulphate etc, and government issued the heavy chemical protection act in 1931 and it operated till The second phase started with the commencement of the act in 1939, resulting in rapid progress in heavy chemical sector. Number of large establishments rose to 28 which gave a direct employment of 4183 workers. The number of employment rose to 7968 persons in But all these industries mainly devoted themselves in the production of sulphuric acid group and potassium nitrate. Due to the scarcity of alkali industries India imported 0.02 million tonnes of caustic soda and million tonnes of sodium bicarbonate for textile, paper and soap industries. The chemical industries could not flourish because of acute scarcity of raw materials. India exported a small amount of saltpeter, magnesium chloride and borax. But the British dominated countries captured the lion s share of the trade with India. During the Second World War the imports were totally stopped. This provided a golden opportunity to the Indian industries to expand their business and old factories augmented their capacity and many new ones were set up. As a result the production of soda ash, caustic soda, chlorine, bleaching powder, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, zinc chloride and ammonium sulphate increased. It was during the third phase when planned and systematic development started. Second five year plan boosted the industry for rapid progress. Modem and suitable infrastructure enabled many basic chemical farms to carry out new production capacities. An extra attention was also given to the production of petrochemicals, synthetic rubber and drugs etc leading to the installation of a new era. The beginning of industrialization ( ) was initiated with the construction of Indian railway in the year It was in the year 1954; the first cotton mill was established at Bombay (now Mumbai) under Parsee enterprise. After that the jute industry gained a real footing at Rishra in West Bengal in the year In 1964 the paper mill 17

8 was started at Bally near Kolkata followed by the glass and chemical industries. Development during the First World War ( ) took place when new industries were set up in India to cater to the internal needs of the country. The wretched industrial structure of chemical industries due to lack of financial assistance, paucity of industrial leadership and modern technology and constraints of raw material supply were noticeable. There v/as no such considerable progress in the field of chemical industry in between the world wars. The Second World War is an incident which gave much impetus to the commencement of new era in Indian industrialization. The production capacity reached to the optimum level. Several new industries came into existence of which chemical industries were worth mentioning. References: Roy, H.R. (1989), Life and Time of Hiralal Roy, Indian Institute of chemical engineers, Raja Subodh Mullik Road, Calcutta 32, New Delhi, pp Tiwari, R.C. (2006), Geography of India, Prayag Pustak Bhawan, Allahabad, pp * * * * 18

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Postal Correspondence GATE & PSUs -CT To Buy Postal Correspondence Packages call at 0-9990657855 [1] CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION 03-05 2. SULFUR & SULFURIC ACID.. 06-12 3. FERTILIZER INDUSTRY. 13-26 4. CHLOR-ALKALI