Dharamsi Morarji has now transformed itself into a leading chemical company in India having had a long presence in the production of phosphates. Could you give a brief introduction to the company and its evolution over the past century?

Dharamsi Morarji was founded in 1919 and we are currently in our 100^th year of operation.  The company started as a producer of sulphuric acid and the first sulphuric acid plant in India was established by us. The company then expanded into phosphate fertilizer and for most of our existence, Dharamsi Morarji was known as a fertilizer company. At one stage, we had five different locations producing phosphate fertilizer, and we were producing approximately 500,000 mt/y of single superphosphate. We were the largest phosphate producer in Asia.  In the 1992, government policies changed and different rules were implemented for different fertilizers. The government preferentially subsidized some fertilizers over others - such as imported fertilizers, diammonium phosphate and urea. The product that we made was given a disproportionately low subsidy.

At the turn of the millennium, we started to look at expanding our chemical segment and we invested heavily in R&D, people and equipment. One of the strengths of the company was knowing how to handle hazardous chemicals and the aim became to produce more downstream products for the chemical market.  Today, we have completely extinguished our fertilizer business and only operate within the chemicals space.  We have undergone significant restructuring and now consider ourselves as one of the best companies in the world at handling hazardous chemicals. We focus on the chemistries where we are fundamentally strong, such as sulphur chemistry, and we have already added to our product portfolio since we re-invested into the chemical space. We rebuilt our company over a few years and today, we focus on chemistries such as sulphur, ethanol and boron. The company has two operating sites where we produce intermediates for a wide range of industries such as pharma, paint, dyes, polymers, pigments, electro plating, steel, glass and others.    

Dharamsi Morarji specializes in four major segments. What is the company’s key strength?

Value-added derivatives is one of Dharamsi Morarji’s key strengths. At our major site, we have a sulphuric acid plant as well as on site downstream products such as chlorosulphonic acid, oleums and liquid sulfur trioxide. We also have dedicated plants for downstream products as well as multipurpose plants where we produce low volume high value products. We are offering a service to our customers by handling the hazardous chemicals part of their process and supplying them with a downstream product which is safe.   

Can you elaborate on Dharamsi Morarji’s involvement in the Responsible Care initiative?

I am involved in the Responsible Care initiative in two ways – through Dharamsi Morarji’s involvement and through the Indian Chemical Council, as I am the chairman of the Sustainability Committee. One of the key focuses of the sustainability committee is to spread Responsible Care within the chemical industry in India.  We want to encourage companies to work in a safe manner not only within their plants, but also outside of the plant, until the product reaches and is used by the consumer. Dharamsi Morarji has a significant focus on sustainability and safety and we are building an ecosystem which encourages this.  

Dharamsi Morarji is present in five continents and 25 countries globally. What is the company’s export strategy?

Dharamsi Morarji supplies intermediates to many different industries.  Many companies within the chemical industry have moved their manufacturing to India and thus, we do not export our products to them, but rather to their manufacturer in India. There is really no difference if we supply our products domestically or if we export the products.

We have been exporting products for a significant time and we are trusted in the global market. We are audited under Together for Sustainability (TfS) and welcome audits by customers, as the market is not only looking for product and price anymore, but also sustainability, consistency and reliability. 

What is Dharamsi Morarji’s strategy and vison moving forward?

Dharamsi Morarji’s strategy is to expand our value-added product line, but only with the products where we have certainty that we can have an edge over our competition. We do not only want to grow our top-line, but also our bottom-line and we aim to be the leading company in the world in our niche line of products. We heavily invest in R&D and product innovation. Our R&D team is responsible for taking products from the laboratory through to commercial level, from where the production team will take over.

Dharamsi Morarji vison is to be the most respected company within the intermediate chemical industry. We want to be respected in terms of shareholder value, how we treat our people and the communities around our sites, how we treat our environment, and health and safety. We have been in existence for 100 years and we want our integrity to remain forever.