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INDUSTRY FACT FILE · CHEMICALS, FERTILIZERS & PROCESS INDUSTRIES

Main Products and Services in Chemicals, Fertilizers and Process Industries

What India's chemical, fertilizer, agrochemical and process companies make and deliver, the plant, laboratory, enterprise and distribution systems behind each activity, and where those systems create cybersecurity, safety and compliance exposure.

In this document

1. How chemical and fertilizer companies earn their money

2. Products and services by company type

3. The process plant: DCS, PLCs, safety systems and tank farms

4. The enterprise layer: ERP, LIMS, subsidy integrations and dealer portals

5. The systems behind the products and services

6. Trends that change the attack surface

7. Mapping operations to Codec Networks engagements

1. How chemical and fertilizer companies earn their money

Revenue stream	How it works	Security relevance
Fertilizer sales and subsidy	Product sold to dealers at controlled prices; subsidy claimed on PoS-authenticated sales	ERP, integration and PoS data integrity; continuity in season
Bulk and commodity chemical sales	Continuous production sold to industrial customers and traders	Plant uptime; pricing and contract data
Specialty and contract manufacturing	Custom molecules and formulations for pharma, FMCG, auto and global customers	Recipe confidentiality; customer audits; quality data integrity
Agrochemical sales	Technicals and formulations sold through distributors and dealers	Dealer portals, seasonal cash flows, farmer data
Paints, gases and materials	Branded and industrial products through dealers and direct supply	Multi-site plants, logistics, dealer systems
Exports	Supply to regulated markets	REACH and customer compliance; shipment and documentation systems

2. Products and services by company type

Company type	Main products and services	Key systems
Fertilizer producers	Urea, DAP, NPK, complexes, micronutrients	Large DCS estates, ammonia and urea unit SIS, ERP, DBT/PoS integration, dealer portals
Bulk and commodity chemicals	Chlor-alkali, soda ash, acids, polymers	DCS, PLCs, SIS, utilities automation, ERP, trading systems
Specialty chemicals and CDMOs	Intermediates, performance chemicals, custom synthesis	Batch control, recipe and formulation systems, LIMS, ELN, customer portals
Agrochemicals	Crop protection technicals and formulations	Batch plants, formulation systems, dealer portals, field and farmer apps
Paints, coatings and gases	Coatings, adhesives, industrial and specialty gases	Multi-site batch plants, tinting systems, cylinder and bulk logistics platforms
Process operators and distributors	Toll manufacturing, blending, distribution	Customer-specified controls, ERP, logistics and dealer systems

3. The process plant: DCS, PLCs, safety systems and tank farms

A continuous chemical or fertilizer plant is controlled by a distributed control system (DCS) and PLCs that run reactors, compressors, columns and furnaces, protected by safety instrumented systems (SIS) that bring the process to a safe state and by alarm and interlock logic. Engineering workstations configure these systems; historians feed production data to IT; analysers and laboratory systems certify quality; and tank farms, loading bays and utilities have their own automation.

Much of this estate is long-lived and vendor-maintained: DCS generations run for decades, protocols carry no authentication, and automation vendors and integrators keep remote access for support. Turnarounds bring hundreds of contractors and their devices into the plant. Digital plant initiatives add IIoT sensors, advanced process control, optimisation analytics and cloud dashboards that connect the plant floor outward.

4. The enterprise layer: ERP, LIMS, subsidy integrations and dealer portals

Above the plant, ERP runs procurement, production planning, dispatch, invoicing and payments; LIMS, electronic lab notebooks and formulation systems hold recipes, process parameters and quality records; and dealer portals, logistics platforms and customer systems move product to market. For fertilizer producers, ERP also feeds the Department of Fertilizers' DBT integration, where subsidy is released against Aadhaar-authenticated point-of-sale data from retailers—so an ERP outage in sowing season stalls both dispatch and cash.

Agrochemical and paint companies run large dealer and distributor networks through portals, apps and seasonal credit; specialty companies and CDMOs exchange designs, specifications and quality data with global customers under strict confidentiality and audit regimes.

Highest-risk moments

Vendor remote sessions into the DCS, turnaround contractors and USB media, engineering workstations with access to safety systems, ERP and subsidy integrations in peak season, bulk exports of recipes from formulation systems and dealer-portal bank-detail changes are where chemical and fertilizer incidents typically begin or escalate.

5. The systems behind the products and services

Title: Figure 2: Where cyber risk sits across the chemical and fertilizer value chain. - Description: Figure 2: Where cyber risk sits across the chemical and fertilizer value chain.

Figure 2: Where cyber risk sits across the chemical and fertilizer value chain.

Product / service	Systems that deliver it	Key cyber and compliance touchpoints
R&D and formulation	LIMS, ELN, recipe and formulation systems	Data classification, access reviews, DLP, LIMS integrity
Process plant	DCS, PLCs, SIS, analysers, historians	OT assessment, SIS isolation, engineering workstation controls, OT monitoring
Storage and utilities	Tank gauging, loading automation, utilities control	Automation assessment, integrity checks, segmentation
Enterprise IT	ERP, finance, HR, email, cloud	EDR, backups, identity, SOC, DPDP
Subsidy and compliance	DBT/PoS integration, GST, environmental and regulatory filings	Integration security, continuity planning, data integrity
Distribution and dealers	Dealer portals, apps, logistics and tanker tracking	Portal and payment testing, BEC controls, dealer data protection

6. Trends that change the attack surface

Trend	What is changing	Security implication
Digital plant and APC	Advanced process control, optimisation analytics, IIoT and cloud dashboards	More plant-to-cloud connections to secure
Vendor remote support	OEMs and integrators supporting DCS and SIS remotely	Standing access as a primary risk
Subsidy and dealer digitisation	DBT, PoS, dealer portals and farmer apps	Revenue tied to integration and data integrity; DPDP scope
Global customer audits	Pharma, FMCG and auto customers auditing supplier security	Evidence-based assurance replaces informal practice
Regulatory formalisation	CERT-In audit guidelines, SEBI disclosure, DPDP	Independent audits that include OT
Safety-cyber convergence	IEC 61511 and IEC 62443 treated together	Cyber risk inside process safety management

7. Mapping operations to Codec Networks engagements

If the company operates…	Recommended starting engagement
Continuous process plants with DCS and SIS	OT risk assessment, SIS security review, vendor access controls
ERP with subsidy, dispatch or dealer integrations	ERP and integration security, backup and continuity planning
Formulation, LIMS and recipe systems	Data classification, DLP, access reviews, LIMS integrity
Dealer and distributor networks	Portal and payment testing, BEC controls, DPDP programme
Turnarounds with many contractors	Third-party access programme, media controls, segmented access
Digital plant and IIoT programmes	IIoT and plant-to-cloud security assessment before go-live

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Note: Descriptions are general and based on public information available as of October 2026. Systems and exposures differ by plant and company.