Lok Sabha Question No. 735 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-07
Subject: Chemical Engineering Research Projects
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Dr. T Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Thiru D M Kathir Anand

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 735

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07/02/2025

## CHEMICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH PROJECTS

735: THIRU D. M. KATHIR ANAND:

DR. T. SUMATHY ALIAS THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state :-

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  establish  a  special  economic zone  for Chemicals and Chemical engineering research in Tamil Nadu, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  special  projects  at  CIPET, Chennai  in Chennai South constituency and if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  establish  special  economic zone  for  Chemicals and Fertilizers and a Chemical Engineering Cluster in Tamil Nadu;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the funds allocated for the same;
- (e) the  important  Chemical  engineering  research  projects  undertaken  by  the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers through it's allied and subordinate offices; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  special  projects  pertaining  to Chemical engineering research in and around Vellore and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS

(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

- (a) Currently,  the  Government  does  not  have  any  plan  to  establish  a  special economic zone for chemicals and chemical engineering research in Tamil Nadu.
- (b) The Department has approved the construction of a New Technology Centre at Central Institute of Petrochemical Engineering & Technology: Institute of Petrochemicals Technology (CIPET: IPT), Chennai, at a total cost of Rs. 60 crore. Of  this,  the  share  of  the  Central  Government  is  Rs.  54  crore  while  Rs.  6  crore

would  be  borne  by  CIPET.  The  said  Technology  Centre  consists  of  various facilities  including  advanced  plastics  processing,  tool  room,  smart  classrooms, video  conference  facilities  and  digital  library,  to  support  the  plastic  and  allied industry in the region.

(c) and (d)  Currently, the Government does not have any plan to establish special economic zones for chemicals and fertilizers or a chemical engineering cluster in the State of Tamil Nadu.

(e) The important research projects undertaken in chemical engineering and allied fields by the Research & Development (R&D) wing of CIPET include:

- i. Scalable  Micro  Porous  Polymer  Film  as  a  Separator  for  Secondary Lithium  Battery Applications;
- ii. Optimization  of  Process  Parameters  and  Analysis  of  Polymeric Nanocomposites  for Viscoelastic Applications;
- iii. Development of Corrosion Resistant and Anti-Fouling Based Smart Zeolite Coatings for Marine Vehicles;
- iv. Development of Next Generation Hybrid Solar Cells;
- v. Poly Electrolyte Membrane for Fuel Cell Applications;
- vi. Transparent  Heat  Reflecting  (THR)  Nano-Hybrid  Coating  for  Automobile Window Glasses;
- vii. Tuning of In-Plane 3D Porous Efficient Electrodes for Micro-super capacitors;
- viii. Hybrid 3D Architecture Electrodes for Smart and Flexible Supercapattery;
- ix. Development of  novel,  lightweight  hybrid  and  green  composites  for  the automotive sector;
- x. Design and Development of Poly (vinyl alcohol co-styrene sulfonic acid) based functional membranes for fuel cell applications; and
- xi. Fabrication  and  Design  of  Thermal  Sensors  assembled  with  in-house developed adhesive for Cryogenic long-range Temperature measurement.

(f) The Department of  Chemicals  and  Petrochemicals  implements  a  Scheme  for Setting up of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) under the New  Scheme  of Petrochemicals.  Under  this  Scheme,  the  Department  provides  grant-in-aid  to reputed government research institutes with the objective of improving the existing technology  and  research  in  the  country  and  to  promote  development  of  new applications.  The  emphasis  is  on  modernization  and  upgradation  of  existing manufacturing  processes  as  well  as  improving  the  quality  of  products  involving Chemicals  and  Petrochemicals.  The  broad  areas  of  research  include  updating products for new uses, product design changes using chemicals and petrochemicals, improvements in production processes, development of biodegradable  and  bio-based  chemicals,  enhancing  efficiency  and  productivity through  the  optimization  of  chemical  processes,  including  the  use  of  advanced reactors,  separation  techniques,  and  process  control  strategies.  The  Department has approved two Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the State of Tamil Nadu. The CoE  approved  in  2011  at  the  Central  Institute  of  Petrochemicals  Engineering  & Technology  (CIPET),  Chennai  focused  on  Green  Transport  Network  while  the recently  approved  CoE  at  the  Indian  Institute  of  Technology  (IIT),  Madras  is  for research on development of Biodegradable Packaging Materials.

For the purpose of setting up CoEs, the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals  invites  research  proposals  from  various  eminent  institutes.  The project proposals received from the institutes are evaluated based on relevance of the topic to the chemical and petrochemical sector, relevance to industry, depth of collaboration  with  the  industry,  measurable  outcome  with  sustainable  impact, differentiated research hypothesis, and potential for commercialization. So far, no CoE has been approved in the Vellore Parliamentary constituency.