The global offshore corrosion protection market accounted for $9.57 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $14.14 billion by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period.

Growing investments in the oil and gas industry and advancement in technology for corrosion detection are the major factors propelling the market growth, according to a report from news agency Global Newswire.

Based on the technologies, the coatings segment is going to have a lucrative growth during the forecast period. Investments in renewable energy, offshore wind power generation, and the demand for oil and gas has been rising substantially in China, India, and Japan in Asia Pacific. In this issue, we discuss some of the latest developments happening within the field of offshore corrosion protection. 

Looking inwards within our country, India unveiled a sharp increase in infrastructure spending in an expanded budget for the coming fiscal, as the government seeks to spur a recovery from the pandemic. The budget for April 2022-March 2023 included a 35.4% increase in capital expenditure to 7.5 trillion rupees (about $100 billion) -- about 2.9% of gross domestic product.

The capital spending is expected to be earmarked for sectors such as railways, roads, power, telecoms and affordable housing. The budget earmarked Rs 200 billion for a highway expansion plan, and more than 400 new energy-efficient trains would be developed and manufactured. Also allocated were Rs 480 billion to build eight million houses for the poor in both rural and urban areas.

Apart from strengthening economy, the budget is expected to create many new opportunities for the common man and has been said to be full of new possibilities for more infrastructure, more investment, more growth and more jobs.

The government pegged its growth forecast for the next fiscal year to 8-8.5% from the current year's projection of 9.2%. This is a bounce back from a 6.6% lockdown-induced contraction in the April 2020-March 2021 period.

We do hope, the Russian-Ukraine dispute does not put a spanner into the wheels of progress and everything will end well for the better.

Jolly Lonappan
Editor-in-Chief