CHENNAI: The Centre on Tuesday launched CHEMCONNECT 2026 at IIT-Madras, bringing together more than 200 leaders from industry, academia, start-ups and research institutions to strengthen collaboration and accelerate the development of commercially viable chemical technologies.
Organised by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the inaugural conclave also witnessed the launch of the Centre of Excellence on Biodegradable Packaging Materials (BioPack) at IIT-M.
Department Secretary Tejveer Singh, who inaugurated the event, said, “Stronger industry-academia partnerships are crucial to translating laboratory research into market-ready products as India pursued the Viksit Bharat@2047 goal. Import substitution and greater domestic value addition are need of the hour. More products should be processed within the country to strengthen self-reliance. Targeted R&D and industry-backed research clusters can help expand India’s global footprint.”
Singh also announced that CHEMCONNECT would become an annual event, to be held during July-August to review progress across the Centres of Excellence established by the department.
IIT-M Director V Kamakoti said that institutional collaboration was essential to taking technologies from laboratories to practical applications. “The chemical sector of the institute will provide support through reverse pitching, under which industry will present its challenges to research institutions,” he added.
The BioPack facility will focus on sustainable innovation, capacity building and research in eco-friendly packaging materials. Singh and Kamakoti also released the CHEMCONNECT 2026 compendium.