Import of plastic needs to cut in view of environment challenges: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, called upon the plastic Industry to reduce the volume of import and aspire to become a 100 billion dollars Industry in the next 4 to 5 years.
The Minister also asked the Plastic industry to emerge as a benchmark for quality and  carve its way towards a larger global market share.

“The volume of imports of 17 billion dollars shows that there is a clear market waiting for us to capture, said the minister, while addressing ‘Export Excellence Awards 2017-2021’ of apex plastics industry trade body (PLEXCONCIL) in Mumbai.

“With an economy growing at 7 to 8 Per cent for next 25 years, I am sure making the plastics industry a 100 billion dollars industry in next 4-5 years is very much achievable. We must aspire to reach that level.” he  said.
The government had banned the import of plastic waste in 2019 to promote the management of locally generated plastic waste to reduce packaging pollution in line with ‘Swachh India’ and ‘Swasth India’ campaigns.

In 2021, seven Indian companies sought the government’s permission to import 93,000 tonnes of plastic bottles waste from countries such as the US, Canada and Germany, citing their shortage in India.

Last Month, The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)  Invited the industry bodies and representatives from the ministry to discuss an amendment to replace the term “prohibited” with ‘restricted’ in the import policy on PET, a single-use plastic.

Piyush Goyal also exhorted the Indian Plastic Industry to take the sector from the current level of around Rs. 3 lakh crores of economic activity to Rs. 10 lakh crores in around 4-5 years.

The Minister said that this would be a national service from the plastics industry; this will create at least 1 – 1.5 crore jobs which is what the country needs today.

The Minister asked the industry to think big and expand their global footprint.

“Free Trade Agreements with UAE and Australia which we have signed recently will open opportunities for you in contemporary sectors, but this will be possible when we embrace international standards, so see how we can get a larger share of the pie in developed economies” he said.

Pitching for sustainability in the sector, the Minister said that we need to demonstrate to the world that Indians are environmentally conscious.

“It is important to devise ways to collect and recycle and reuse plastic waste, so that it does not mess with our environmental story. We need to seriously consider segregating and reprocessing plastic waste; once we are able to do this, it will significantly reduce the negativity about using plastics” the minister said.

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