DuPont India is targeting revenue growth of up to 12 per cent in 2020 on the back of a projected recovery in the economy and rising industrial demand. Speaking to BusinessLine , DuPont’s India head and President (South Asia), Anupam Jaiswal, said that India joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would have boosted DuPont India’s business.

“Our targets would be anywhere between 7 per cent and 12 per cent...Historically we have been able to achieve these growth rates. But last year, with the economy going the way it was, it has been a little bit of a challenging environment with the automotive industry taking a sudden and sharp downturn...We do expect growth rates to improve this year (2020),” Jaiswal told BusinessLine.

Import dependence

On import dependence of DuPont’s India business, he said, “Quite a high per cent. We have only four plants and these are relatively small plants in India. So on a percentage basis, a very significant portion of our products are imported and sold here,”

Jaiswal, however, did not share a specific number to reflect the import component of products sold in India.

Not enough FTAs

Commenting on barriers to import such as duties, he said, “There are no barriers as such. We are paying import duties which are more or less in line with the import duties anywhere else in the world. So, I don’t think the import duties are high. I think one of the challenges we do have in India is we do not have enough free trade agreements (FTAs), as if you look at Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) or RCEP. There are definitely benefits in terms of free trade movements.”

“There are certain products and we do have FTAs with countries such as Korea, Thailand, Japan, where we get material under zero import duty. So I am not painting everything under one brush that we are at a disadvantage. There are certain places where we do have FTAs. But as to whether it as aggressive as probably the ASEAN FTA, the answer is no,” he said.

The RCEP advantage

On whether RCEP would have helped DuPont’s India business, Jaiswal said, “If I look at it from a very selfish point of view of DuPont, yes absolutely, because you are able to import products from a variety of countries essentially and export products to others at zero duty. That makes you more competitive.”

“But then again, as the government is looking at its policies and decisions, it has to take a holistic view. So it has to assess all the pros and cons and make the decision,” he added.