Tag: Mr. Sanjay Bhatia

Business World

Metal Packaging Industry Continues Face Dark Times

Apr 30, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, #President MCMA
Mr Sanjay Bhatia, President MCMA
Mr Sanjay Bhatia, President MCMA

-A mere three months extension on BIS implementation by the government not enough, urges review

New Delhi, 30th April 2021: As per the recent notification by the government, Metal Container Manufacturers’ Association (MCMA) has received a three-month extension (on 17th April) from the government for the implementation of BIS notification. This move by the policymakers is not well received by the Industry keeping in mind the lead time required to import products. MCMA has urged for an extension from the government till March 2022.

While MCMA appreciates the support given by the Government by providing a 3 months extension but this will not be helpful at all. The 10,000 Crore Metal Packaging Industry of India has already been reeling under pressure as they have hardly any option left to secure raw material as most of the global players and suppliers of Tinplate/ Tin free steel have preferred to keep out India from supplying raw material in the wake of imposition of BIS standards.

Also, the cases of Covid 19 have surged and the possibility of lockdown all over in India and short working hours due to curfew have pushed the industry further in dark adding to the already acute shortage of raw material.

This non-extension of QCO will not only affect the Metal packaging Industry involved primarily in the MSME sector but also Pharma, Food & beverages Industry who are completely dependent on the packaging Industry. Needless to say this will also result in job losses too.

Furthermore, there is already a huge demand-supply gap of raw material used for packaging food and other items. It has resulted in an exorbitant increase in the prices of packaging items. The metal/tin containers and closures are mostly used for packing edible and non-edible items. The tin-free steel is majorly used to manufacture closures, crowns, and components used to seal bottles for soft drinks, beer, juices, and flavored milk, etc.

This industry which is largely dependent upon the import of tinplate/ tin-free steel from various countries is under tremendous pressure with the shortage of raw material and the prices have escalated almost 30-40% in addition to the serious issue of availability of inputs.

India’s primary organization that represents the interests of companies involved in the production of metal containers, packaging, and allied components, the Metal Container Manufacturers’ Association (MCMA) – has urged the government to put on hold the implementation of Steel and steel products Quality Control Order dated 17th July 2020 Norms. The Association has requested the Ministry of Steel to postpone the implementation of the QCO till a sufficient quantity of tinplate/ tin-free steel is produced locally to meet the industries demand of 700000 tonnes per annum as the industry is already under pressure due to the pandemic and the second wave of the pandemic with lockdown being implement in few states will only worsen the situation.

The Association has also requested the Ministry of Steel to allow the use of ISO-certified materials in addition to BIS-certified material. MCMA requested the Ministry to allow the use of materials that are aligned to ISO. The same has been included in the FSSAI order and also recommended by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME).

The Ministry of Steel issued an order called: the steel and steel products quality control order (QCO) on 17 July 2020. This order mandates BIS Certification on the major input required by the industry like tinplate and tin-free steel. It imposes restrictions on steel products like easy-open ends, peel-off ends, which the industry imports from several foreign countries.

The MCMA believes that the QCO has been notified at a time when the industry is already reeling under the pressure and trying to reset the business during the pandemic and now with the lockdown anticipated again things are only getting worse for the industry. The industry feels that it is difficult to force the international suppliers to go for BIS certifications as the procedure of BIS registration is unmanageable during these times. Even the companies who have applied for BIS Registration, their applications are pending with BIS since last year as concern experts are not able to travel to respective countries to approve their plants. Therefore, on the one hand, Govt is not giving BIS registration due to COVID travel restrictions and on the other not extending QCO for at least 12 months so that industry can continue to get its essential inputs like Tin Plate/Tin free steel and components like Easy Open Ends, etc.

MCMA insists that in the meantime, ISO certification should be considered rather than only BIS -like what has already been notified by FSSAI to save the industry and tackle the current shortage of raw materials in the domestic market of India.

The steel and steel products quality control order dated July 17, 2020, which directs usage of BIS-certified raw materials, has had an impact on the metal container packaging industry in India. This has resulted in a shortage of raw materials as imported inputs don’t have BIS certification, although they comply with recognized International Standards. Following representations by the MCMA, the government had previously postponed it till 17 April 2021 and now has granted a further three-month extension, but the industry seeks more time for implementation of QCO, at least till March 2022.

The government issued an order to bring a number of steel products under quality control. The order notified steel items cannot be produced, sold/traded, imported, and stocked unless they have a BIS mark. MCMA members believe that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the foreign tinplate mills may not be in a position to procure the relevant BIS license which will impact the industry significantly.

India is not a very big market for international suppliers of tin plates and they will not be interested in going into bureaucratic and expensive BIS certification. Since these suppliers have already stopped shipping tin plates to India there is a huge shortage of the products in the market.

Similar kind of Quality Control orders had been issued earlier also in the year 2008, 2015, and 2017 but keeping in mind the demand-supply gap, practical difficulties in implementation, and requirement of the MSME sector particularly in the metal packaging the Government, withdrew the draft quality control order on tinplate/ tin-free steel. The situation has not changed since then. There is still a demand-supply gap of 250000 tonnes per annum and the industry mainly continues to be in the MSME sector. Therefore, MCMA once again requested that the QCO dated 17th July 2020 on tinplate/tin-free steel and the products should be withdrawn completely. It is apprehended that its implementation will seriously affect the trade and industry engaged in the metal packaging sector and will result in loss of employment and non-availability of metal packaging to essential sectors like food, dairy, edible oil, pharma, paints etc.

PHD Rural Development Foundation
Business World

On Women’s Day, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry organizes Self-Defence training

Mar 9, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Chairman, #Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, #PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, #PHD Rural Development Foundation, #PHDRDF

The eighth day of March is a day of globally celebrating the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women. The day also marks as the call to action for accelerating gender equality. In today’s world, women needs to be financially independent and feel safe and secured to step out confidently. It is significant to imbibe the essence of independence and security amongst the adolescent girls from the very beginning to be able to break the chain of patriarchy.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, PHD Rural Development Foundation, the social arm of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry has organized self-defence training for more than 70 adolescent girls and women from low-income and minority dominating area in rural pockets of Sohna and Siddhrawali, Pataudi in Haryana. The basic training on self-defence methods were provided by certified Krav Maga trainer, Ms Prabhsharan Kaur in the presence of team from PHDRDF.

Mr Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, PHDRDF on occasion of International Women’s Day stated that, “young boys and girls are the change makers and it is important to prepare them for tomorrow’s world and provide them with both physical and mental training.” The focus has to be on conditioning the youth overall. Among many other initiatives, PHDRDF has also been working in the skill development area through its initiative ‘PHDRDF Saksham’ and has been empowering women and youth through different skill development programs like electrician course, setting up of sanitary manufacturing units, vocational courses, bee-keeping and many more. These skills will help them further with employment opportunities and give them chance to earn livelihood. PHDRDF celebrates this international women’s day with a hope of empowering more women and give them a chance to lead their life independently.

Business World

This is not the time to focus on deficit and international ratings: PHD Chamber

Oct 7, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Mr. Anil Khaitan, #Mr. Manjeev Singh, #Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, #PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, #Shri Sanjay Aggarwal

While presenting the welcome address at the Special Session on Indian Economy: Post COVID-19 in the 115th Annual Session of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shri Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber, said that this is not the time to focus on deficit and international ratings. He suggested that the government should focus on liquidity disbursement at this juncture to support the businesses and bring back the momentum in the economy.

Shri Aggarwal said that the economy and its citizens faced hardships due to the pandemic COVID-19, however, with the lifting of the lockdown, the economy is likely to see a recovery momentum sooner than later on the back of various ground touching reforms undertaken by the government to combat the daunting impact of covid-19. He emphasized on the need of creating employment for the youth. He urged that MGNREGA should not just aim to do agriculture work but should also focus on other infrastructure divisions namely roads, railways, among others.

Mr. Manjeev Singh, Puri Former Ambassador to Nepal, acknowledged that the lockdown has caused the economy in doldrums and led the GDP to contract by nearly a quarter. Going forward, the efforts should be in the direction to revive the economy. He appreciated Rs 20 lakh crore package announced by the Government, which represents 10% of the GDP. He urged that in the current uncertain times, there is a need to provide more liquidity to the industry to revive and rejuvenate the economy, going ahead.

He focused on the need to address climate change. He believed that the country has done really well in the solar sector space and E-vehicles. Focusing on the need for Sustainable developments, he said that going forward the country will run on green energy and the importance of this sector should not be neglected.

Mr. Sanjay Bhatia Former President, PHDCCI & Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works Limited, said that the economy has undergone a significant shock amid the pandemic. Sectors such as airline, tourism, textiles have been severely affected. He supported the focus on local goods and concluded by appreciating the announcement Rs 20 lakh crore package along with extensive reforms measures by the government.

Mr. Anil Khaitan, Former President, PHDCCI & Chairman & Managing Director, Sunil Healthcare Limited, opined that while various international rating agencies have estimated a severe contraction of the Indian economy; the country will bounce like a rocket. He stressed upon the fact that India has a phenomenal resilience and a wonderful ecosystem. Appreciating the aggressive agricultural reforms by the government, he called them a game-changer.

Mr. Anil Khaitan outlined the major issues the country is facing including the military tensions with China and Pakistan and the shock from the Pandemic. He concluded with powerful advice that the government must have ease of doing business at the district level and only then the implementation will be at the ground level. He suggested that the permanent fiscal council like GST controls, sector-wise package, especially for tourism and a state-wise entrepreneurship programme, is need of the hour. He urged the government to channelize the spending in accordance to the allocations made. With this, he was certain of positive recovery in times ahead.

Mr. Gautam Bali Managing Director, Vestige Marketing Pvt. Ltd emphasized the need of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He emphasized the need to reinvent ourselves like Japan and China. He highlighted that India’s direct selling industry has become a saviour to many youths. Numerous unemployed have come in the direct selling programme and the business has gone digital with people adopting digital platforms to succeed.

Shri Pradeep Multani, Vice President, PHD Chamber, presented the formal vote of thanks for the session and said that India has been resilient in fighting COVID-19 and the big-ticket economic reforms including economic booster package giving equal importance to Land, Labour, Liquidity and Laws, MSMEs and taking equal care of all strata of society are highly appreciable.

Shri Multani said that the implementation of Atmanirbhar Bharat package and calibrated unlocking of the economy has ensured that economic recovery in India has gained momentum. Going ahead, he opined that more demand-side reforms should be undertaken to lift consumer sentiments and propel new industrial investments by businesses.

PHDCCI’s 115th Annual Session has been supported by Vestige Marketing Pvt Ltd; Maruti Suzuki; Radico Khaitan Ltd; SMC Global Securities Ltd; Paramount Communication Ltd; Multani Pharmaceuticals Ltd; DLF Ltd; JK Tyres; Apeejay Svran Group; M V Cotspin Ltd and DCM Shriram Industries Ltd. The other sponsors of the session were Hindalco Industries Ltd, Martin & Harris Pvt Ltd., Filatex India Ltd., Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, Alliance Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd, Oswal Greentech Ltd, Modern Auto Ltd and Bry-Air (Asia) Pvt. Ltd. Please follow the YouTube link for further updates- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8eyd0nh2EE.