CSIR-CSMCRI, Bhavnagar has been doing pioneering work towards developing cost-effective technologies in the area of salt; marine chemicals like potash, magnesia, bio-fertilizers, and various valuable products from seaweed-based resources; different classes of membranes for purification/separation; waste management and recovery of valuable chemicals/materials from industrial wastes.

The institute has proved its potential in the fields of biological sciences, chemical conversions & catalysis, process engineering, green chemistry, environmental monitoring, membrane based water purification & separation sciences; analytical sciences; and, low-cost sensing & diagnostic devices to meet the concentrated needs of industries and institutions associated with this domain.

CSIR-CSMCRI has exerted significant R&D efforts in the area of safe drinking water by developing affordable & efficient membranes for reverse osmosis (RO) plants & kit to investigate bacterial contamination in water. CSIR-CSMCRI’s cost-effective technology for production of ultrapure water via the electro-dialysis route (having industrial and medical applications) has been widely acknowledged by the end-user community. The Institute is working on fortification of edible salt with various micronutrients, vital for the human health. The double fortified salt, containing both iodine & iron in recommended doses, invented by the institute is a milestone in addressing the problem of iodine deficiency disorders & iron deficiency in ‘one go’ especially for women & children. Many of these inventions/interventions are protected through intellectual property rights.

CSIR-CSMCRI’s pioneering work in diverse R&D areas like: industrial waste-to-wealth& development of ZLD processes; sustainable exploitation of the ocean towards farming of seaweeds for extraction of valuable products (bio-stimulants; agar; agarose; pigments etc.); fine and speciality chemicals (mainly: perfumery chemicals); high purity solar salt through on-site interventions (for removal of impurities and making salt deployable for diverse industrial applications); reclamation of degraded coastal land by cultivation of halophytes; indigenous preparation of high-performance membranes for water purification (both for Electro Dialysis and Reverse Osmosis); preparation of high-throughput units for ultrapure water; development of low-cost sensors and gadgets (for bacterial load detection in water; curd-strip; Fluorimeter; water level indicator; Potentiostat & Plastic Chip Electrode) etc. has been widely accepted and lauded by the industrial community.

CSIR-CSMCRI’s intervention in the development of a ‘zero waste process with recovery of potash (fertilizer), water & other value-added by-product(s) like cattle-feed binder from spent wash transformed a long-standing environmental problem into an opportunity that achieve partial self-reliance for molasses-based distilleries. World’s 1st commercial plant to produce FCO-grade potassium nitrate from spent wash – based on this unique technology – has been installed at M/s Aurangabad Distillery Limited (Walchandnagar, Maharashtra) by M/s Chem Process Systems Private Limited, CSIR-CSMCRI’s technology partner. This technology was awarded the CSIR Technology Award-2019 (Innovation Category) by Hon’ble President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind Ji on 26th September 2019.

CSIR-CSMCRI’s technical and advisory services towards carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment studies has been used not just by the industries of Gujarat but by other statutory government bodies/agencies of States as well. CSIR-CSMCRI holds pride in having the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) accreditation, awarded by the Quality Council of India (QCI), in four sectors (viz. ports & harbours; distilleries; ship breaking yards and CETP’s). In addition, the unique, state-of-the-art Centralized Instrumentation Facility of the Institute offers best possible, accurate analytical services at reasonable rates. It is one of the unique facilities in the Nation that have nearly all “chemical science & engineering” related high-throughput equipment under one roof (NMR, FE-SEM, TEM, AFM; HPLC, GC, GC-MS, XRD, MALDI-TOF, BET; FT-IR; IC, etc.).