Indian enzyme market has witnessed a slight increase in its growth rate in 2019-20 as compared with previous year’s growth rate of 7 per cent. In 2019-20 the Indian enzyme market touched Rs 2596 crore with growth rate of 10 per cent. The Indian enzyme market recorded Rs 2360 crore for the year 2018-19.

However, the rapid development of India’s food and beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industry is starting to change this, and specialty enzyme demand will outpace industrial enzyme demand, going forward.

There are about 25 major players in this market. Most of these companies are either into marketing or into formulations. But India has few companies, both multinational and local, that manufacture enzymes used in different industries such as pharmaceutical, food processing, leather, detergents, paper and pulp and textiles.

These companies produce various enzymes and several other eco-friendly biological products. The product range and services are growing rapidly as the use of enzymes is gaining widespread acceptance. India witnessed a marginal drop of 5 per cent in import of enzymes in 2019-20 to Rs 819.84 crore from Rs 863.51 crore in 2018-19.

Top 10 enzyme exporters to India include China, Denmark, USA, Germany, Netherland, Singapore, Italy, Austria, Japan and Spain. Except China, the Netherlands and Japan, all other countries saw a drop in enzyme exports to India.

China, a leading exporter of enzymes to India continues to see a growth of 29 per cent while the Netherlands also saw a surge of 31.83 percent in exports. Indian companies are now looking at buying enzymes from Thailand as it witnessed a 107.82 per cent growth in export in 2019-20.

On the other side, Indian manufacturers are not only supplying to local market but are also exporting to a number of countries. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), India exported enzymes worth Rs 302.85 crore in 2019-20 as against Rs 286.89 crore in 2018- 19.

The leading importers of Indian enzymes include USA, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Iran, China and Bangladesh where India has exported enzymes worth over Rs 10 crore during 2019-20.

During the year USA imported enzymes worth Rs 47.16 crore against previous year’s import of Rs 71.17 crore; Denmark imported Rs 26.07 crore; Germany (Rs 23.65 crore); Belgium (Rs 13 crore); Iran (Rs 11.49 crore); China (Rs 11.23 crore) and Bangladesh (Rs 10.58 crore).

In 2019-20, the enzymes industry witnessed a surge in demand for Indian enzymes mainly from countries like Sudan, Kuwait, Baharain, Algeria, Tunisia, Chile, Nicaragua, Sweden, Burundi, Morocco, Malawi, Costa Rica and Ghana.

These new markets will open up opportunities for Indian enzymes companies in the coming years. According to TechSci Research June 2020 report, the Indian Enzymes Market is anticipated to undergo robust growth by 2025, owing to the growing application of enzymes for fermentation of milk to produce dairy products like curd, yogurt, cheese etc. The flourishing dairy industry in India is anticipated to have a positive impact on the demand for enzymes in the coming years.

Moreover, the increasing popularity of recombinant enzymes across various industries like detergents, pharmaceuticals etc. is another factor behind the growth of this market.

The constant innovations in research and development activities to increase the yield, improve enzyme specificity as well as stability is further expected to propel the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Additionally, the increasing use of proteases in detergents, coupled with the growing use in animal feed, is projected to drive the growth of the enzymes market in India in the coming years. Enzymes are biocatalysts which accelerates the reaction and gives the desired results in a biological reaction.

The market also faces some constraints as there are issues with the handling and safety of enzymes. Also, the high sensitivity of enzymes to temperature and pH can hamper the growth of the market.

Companies are investing in research and development activities to bring new and more efficient enzymes to cater to the growing needs of various end-user industries.

Narayan Kulkarni

narayan.kulkarni@mmactiv.com