New Delhi, Apr 2 (IANS): The Indian Chemical Council has sought the Centre's support, including policy formulation and government investment, for increase in domestic raw material production.

In a statement, the industry body said that India's dependency on China for chemicals across the value chain for broad categories ranges between 10 to 40 per cent. With the rapid Covid-19 outbreak, there has been a significant void in the supply and demand chain in India which is impacting India's growth story at a larger extend, it added

The ICC said that the Indian chemical sector needs to be future-ready for situations like these and there is a need to strengthen India's domestic chemical production base, which is the backbone of India's industrial and agricultural development.

"The chemical industry needs to better its feedstock allocation policy, government investments in chemical clusters across the country, easier access to capital due to its capital intensive nature, and simpler pollution compliance laws," the council said in a statement.

Policies favoring the chemical sector will give a fillip to all industries dependent on this industry, from LED lights to electronics, from EVs to apparels, thereby giving a boost to the entire Indian economy, it said.

The statement said that there is a wide range of opportunities for domestic manufacturers to explore along with the government's support to make India least dependent on other countries.