Chemicals

Chemical Weapons Bill

The Chemical Weapons Convention Bill, 2000 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha and was passed by the House on 26th July, 2000. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha and was passed on 16th August, 2000.

Environment Friendly Chemical Estates

It was decided by the Minister (C&F) that separate environment friendly Chemical Estates for the chemical industry should be set up in the country in consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forests. An Expert Group has been set up and the proposals received from various State Governments for setting up these environment friendly Chemical Estates are presently under consideration. A high level conference on this was held in Mumbai where the various States made their presentations.

INDO-CHEM 2000

Shri Prabhu launched INDIACHEM 2000 billed as the largest chemical shows in India. To be organised from 6-8 October, 2000 in New Delhi, INDIACHEM 2000 will be a maiden effort by India to propel itself into becoming a major player in the chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical segments. The Minister has exhorted the chemical industry to prepare itself to compete in the global market. INDIACHEM 2000 is being organised by the Dept. of Chemicals and Petrochemicals and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry alongwith USA as partner country and Gujarat and the State of new Jersey from the USA as the partner State. Road shows have been organised in the OECD countries to encourage their participation. The Minister led a delegation comprising representatives from the industry, President and senior officials of FICCI and officers from various Ministries to the USA, UK and Switzerland for promoting the event.

Institute for Pesticide Formulation Technology (IPFT)

A new, state –of- the- art laboratory building is under construction at the Institute of Pesticides Formulation Technology (IPFT) at Gurgaon,. This building would conform to international standards including ISO and NABL. The institute has acquired the most sophisticated equipments like the high performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC), Gas Chromatograph coupled with Mass Spectometric Detector (GC-MSD) and super Critical Fluid Chromatograph (SFC).

Neem Project

The Department has initiated the UNDP assisted project on the Development and Production of Neem products as Environment Friendly Pesticides. Being implemented with the involvement of NGOs active in this field, this project is aimed at popularising the use of neem based pesticides which are not harmful for the environment and which can be easily obtained from the neem seeds that are available in abundance in the countryside.

Repeal of Power Alcohol Bill

The repeal of Power Alcohol Bill was moved before both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and it has been approved by both the houses of parliament.