Our founder knew how to innovate
For Godrej this proved to be great.
From time to time, I also tried.
His lessons were learned and then applied!
Now chemists venture far and wide
But still I take a little pride
In my simple narrow field.
Now fruits and seeds are known to yield
What for years was known as oil.
Petroleum from rock or soil
Has usurped that very name.
And petrochemicals are a game
That dominate the world today
But Oleochemicals still do play
A role of some significance.
And they are of great relevance
As a replacement of fossil fuel.
And the advantage is dual.
Their known supply is rather tight
Though with technology we might
Find newer sources here and there
But surely we must beware.
Tar sands have their dirty pools.
Shale gas requires ingenious tools.
Clean water may well be lacking
If we indulge in careless fracking.
For this we might find a solution
But what about the pollution
From the CO2 that is emitted?
For all those who are quick witted,
Plant based materials jump to mind.
Both starch and cellulose we find.
But as a biological energy store
Vegetable oil is at the fore.
It provides both energy and matter
But today I'll focus on the latter.
Godrej Oleochemicals
And therefore I’ll relate my story
A tale of trouble and some glory.
I had no idea what was in store-
One year our loss was 80 Crore.
We wondered why we had invested
In something strange and so untested
As making Olefins from oil.
It hardly seemed worth all that toil.
But Alcohol was an intermediate
Not Ethyl which gives an immediate
Kick to all those who imbibe it.
And for this audience I’d describe it
As from C12 to C18.
And now this change in tack would mean
A change in all our strategy.
To lead this change was up to me.
I did not do it all alone
My team was good, as is well known.
The group was there with all its strengths.
To help us out they went great lengths.
A merger helped to save our skin.
You must survive before you win.
We lived to fight another day.
Step by step we found the way.
We had to work to make things right.
On every front we had to fight.
Now we had suffered for our sins
But since we stopped the olefins,
We had two columns that were idle
Not using them was suicidal.
Configuring them for fractionation
We used them for the preparation
Of much desired single cuts.
And when we settle into ruts
Such innovation gets us out.
And I have not the slightest doubt,
Our engineers helped save the day,
The continuous improvement way.
With the help of all of them,
We started off with TQM.
We learnt a lot of useful stuff
But all of that was not enough.
We learnt to stretch capacity
With bellicose rapacity.
We focused on the bottlenecks
With grips that could well throttle necks.
And month by month the throughput rose
With just an occasional dose
Of investment in a plant that’s new.
We kept the number to just a few.
We built new plants for fractionation,
Restarted with our sulphonation.
By then we made no olefin.
And so we chose to bring it in.
Of course made petrochemically
By Chevron, Shell or BP.
The base we tolled for HLL.
The rest, to others, we could sell.
Now HLL served as the bread
The rest was a nutritious spread.
Our hydrogen was good and cheap
The benefit we could then reap
By using all that we could spare
To make some stearic acid there.
With Dr. Pandit’s help we tried
And made a plant, that is our pride.
At a low cost we then supplied
Good alcohol sans aldehyde.
Others’ know-how fees were high
We did not pay a single pie.
The cost of Indian plants is low
And this enables us to grow.
In order to increase our trade,
We quite specifically made
C16-18 cuts from Palm.
But this had some attendant harm.
For every time the feed was changed
The product streams were exchanged.
We had more fractionation cost
And more material was lost.
Our engineers then were the ones,
Who cut the cost with longer runs.
From time to time our plants were down
And this would cause us all to frown.
Now TPM was a solution
For us it was a revolution.
The plants were up more and more.
The costs were going to the floor.
Everywhere the throughput rose.
And we had a healthy dose
Of cutting costs everywhere.
With energy we took great care-
Whatever saving was suggested
We evaluated and invested.
With our experience in soaps
We had already learnt the ropes
Of processing most distillates
Available at attractive rates.
Competitors use processed oil.
Our R&D with skill and toil,
Although the task was rather tough,
Found ways to use the cheaper stuff.
All of this was very fine
And added to the bottom-line.
The catalyst was optimised.
The throughput was maximised
And per ton costs were minimised.
The profits were then super-sized.
Production wasn’t the only story,
Now marketing brought us some glory.
Flaked longer chains were our forte.
We found new markets for a sortie.
In China we could sell a lot.
We liked the margins that we got
In Argentina and Brazil.
Our coffers we could slowly fill.
I think, by now, we can exude
Much confidence and to conclude
I think that we can safely state
That India now will surely rate
As a good base to produce
All chemicals and that’s good news.
In India you can surely earn.
But these lessons one should learn.
Your markets should be everywhere.
You must ensure that you take care
That all your plants are global scale.
Niche markets can help you prevail.
Good service is a perfect treat,
It always helps you to compete.
Since others have done it before
Push on for you can be quite sure
That you’ll succeed. Have no fears,
Employ scientists and engineers.
For they will help you optimise.
And then you’ll surely win the prize.
Godrej Specialty Chemicals
This Oleochemical story’s strange.
But we got the complete range.
Over time our team became quite sure
That specialty chemicals would help us endure.
This is what we would need
In order to really succeed.
We definitely needed to see
A higher level of R&D.
And as you can see NG-STAR
Has already taken us very far.
Our state of the art R&D Centre
Will surely help us to enter
Many new chemistries
This is the future that one sees.
Biologicals will play a role
In achieving our green goal.
Much progress we will see
In going from lab to factory.
Flow chemistry will be embraced
Screw reactors will be placed.
Catalysts are now passé.
Enzymes are the greener way.
We will use them more and more.
The benefits are there for sure.
Expertise in application
Will lead to customer elation.
Products should be tailor made
And if this is how the game is played,
As we hold the customer’s hand
Our portfolio will expand.
In order to really succeed
New surfactants are the need.
Sophorolipids are one way to go.
Multiple benefits clearly flow.
A smaller quantity is all we need
Synergistic surfactants help us succeed.
Microbes can be kept at bay
And therefore it can also play
As germicide or preservative.
So many options it can give!
Much success is what you’ll see
If you add it to your artillery!
Godrej Agrochemicals
The Godrej portfolio looks diversified
But much of what we have tried
Was something that we slipped into.
For animal feed this proved quite true.
With Solvent Extraction we did succeed
For compound feed there seemed no need.
Then Bühler sought out L & T
Together they had tried to see,
If any market might exist.
There were no takers on their list.
Thus forced to make a clean swipe
They were then left with a prototype.
A discount customer was sought
And Godrej were the ones who bought.
Serendipity and not a vision
Helped us start the feed division.
This decision played a part
In our agribusiness start!
Triacontanol came on the scene.
Our R&D was very keen.
With rice bran wax they did proceed
And very soon they could succeed.
This step was very bold.
Growth regulators came into our fold.
Later NCL could provide
A process for Homobrassinolide.
When there was a tallow ban
In desperation we had to scan
For an alternative fat or oil.
After much research and toil
Some success could be seen
As minor oils came on the scene.
These could be used if purified
Deodourisation was often tried.
The tricky chemicals thus removed
Quite fortuitously then proved
To be agrochemicals par excellence.
We very quickly grabbed the chance
To expand this exciting field
And help the farmers improve their yield.
We will expand our R&D
Improving farm productivity.
And ensure our farmers do survive
And very soon we hope they’ll thrive.
An opportunity was caught.
From the receiver a plant was bought.
Thus Astec Life Sciences was born
And that indeed was the dawn
Of a new and glorious day
As Astec was on its way!
One of Ashok’s significant roles
Was to master triazoles.
And now he can take great pride
In being the King of Fungicide!
From those beginnings in ‘94
Astec aspired to do much more.
The next generation weren’t so inclined
Ashok then had to find
A buyer for all he had built.
No one knew which way he’d tilt.
Then Godrej bought a major share
And don’t you think it would be fair
To state it worked out rather well
As anyone can quickly tell
With just a glance at the share price.
The growth rate has been rather nice!
Much investment we now see
In both new plants and R&D.
The future now looks very bright
Greater heights are now in sight.
Last year the going was very rough
The Propi and Tebu markets were tough.
At the end of the tunnel there’s shimmering light
The future now looks very bright.
In Chemicals India’s strong.
Investment here can’t go wrong.
Our capital costs are very low.
Technical knowledge will steadily grow.
ROI’s good for CDMO.
More interest will steadily flow.
And everyone who does enter
Our brand new Adi Godrej Centre
Will see that it is state of the art.
This will be a brilliant start
As we turn another new page
And enter a brand new age.
One hundred chemists will work here
Our Dr Fondekar will steer.
All our chemists will be well guided
Many facilities are provided.
Flow chemistry and fluorination,
Electronic documentation.
The latest technologies are there.
Process engineering and software.
Our CDMO business is bound to grow.
Novel enterprise chemicals will also flow.
New horizons are in sight
The future will be very bright!
Animal feed played a part
When Godrej Agrovet had its start.
That move set us into motion.
Now NGCARD our research station
Is a fountain head of innovation.
We know they can succeed
In remediating low value feed
For us an even greater hope
Is the tremendous scope
Of rumen bypass technology.
Ruminants turn grass to food, you see.
The rumen helps to digest grass.
But when good nutrients pass
Through the rumen they degrade.
But there is a way this can be played.
Encapsulation can be an aid
Good bypass products can be made.
The benefit that we can glean
Is that fat, amino acids and protein
Enrich the milk, improve the yield.
This is the power we can wield.
Innovation has its charm
In factory as well as farm!
With steady progress in newer feed
And Maxximilk's superior breed
We are now sure we can succeed
In providing protein, our dire need.
It is no longer Climate Change
Within a tolerable range.
A crisis is what it’s about
With fires, floods as well as drought.
Every week a constant blast
Far worse than seen in the past.
If we must, we will adapt
Prevention though would be more apt.
There is a cost to adaptation,
It’s rising fast in every nation
As well as for the world at large.
This will be a heavy charge.
In fact we should all conclude
Prevention would be far more shrewd.
It actually would cost much less
And avoid a lot of stress.
Our industry should play a rôle
In the carbon neutral goal.
GHG emissions should be reduced
More green energy should be produced.
Wind and solar costs are falling
There is no reason for any stalling.
And India’s full of biomass
Palm fibre, bamboo and bagasse.
Everywhere there’s water stress
Undoubtedly we must use less
Both in consumption and production
We need substantial reduction.
Fortunately it’s not a cost
With good ideas nothing’s lost.
The less we waste the more we save.
We must be smart, we must be brave.
We do indeed need to invest
But the returns will be the best!
Now all of you will I hope
Try our Magic liquid soap.
It’s a product both Good and Green
Many benefits are seen.
The project was an ambitious bid
To reach the bottom of the pyramid
With a product that could properly clean
And also be extremely green.
With a great design that’s very lean.
Now multiple benefits can be seen-
Reducing waste, reduces cost.
There’s no trade off, nothing’s lost!
Our innovation saved the day.
Powder to liquid was the way.
As this is a concentrate
The plastic saving’s truly great.
One half is all that we need
In transport, as well, we did succeed.
The volume’s less, we need less trips
Our carbon footprint dramatically slips.
Combining both is tough, in fact
We did achieve a double impact
Both social - affordable cleaning
And environmental- real greening.
And innovation keeps us growing
The benefits keep on flowing.
