Centre will soon come out with a National Chemical Policy to provide enabling environment, infrastructure and duty structure for the Chemical Industry. Inaugurating the National Summit on Indian Chemical Industry in New Delhi today, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar said, this will be first such policy in independent India. The Minister said, the policy will promote research and development in this sector and address the various issues which are hampering the growth of chemical industry in the country. <br/><br/>Mr Kumar informed that the government is planning to increase the number of Central Institutes of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) from 23 to about 100 in next couple of years to meet the shortage of Plastic Engineers in the country. The Minister said, 4 lakh plastic engineers are required whereas the availability is hardly 45 thousand per year.<br/><br/><br/> The Government has sanctioned 10 CIPETs and these will fill gap of skill India in a large manner. Citing the example of growth in western part of the country especially Gujarat, the Minister said that the growth of the Chemical Industry is paramount to the growth of any region.