Both Valiant and Aarti Industries are Indian suppliers of PAP, although majority is imported from China.
Synthesizing PAP isn’t a problem as there are conventional methods available. Deepak Nitrite may also get into it as their Phenol plant may help them produce it cost effectively.
However, Vinati Organic’s strategy is different. They want to produce it in a greener and much cost efficient way via the catalytic hydrogenation of Nitrobenzene. This pathway isn’t new as well as there are at-least two such catalysts (here & here).
So, evidently they are attempting to develop a novel green catalyst which will ensure that the process becomes highly cost effective and waste generation is minimal.
In this way they will be able to match the cost efficiency of Chinese suppliers (and Deepak). And more importantly, their variant of PAP will have minimal impurity (due to less waste) and even those trace amount of impurities will be mostly harmless (green process). This is very important as PAP goes on to produce Paracetamol formulation and harmful impurities are unwelcome there.
So, this means that Vinati may become the preferred supplier to most leading pharma companies if they succeed, even if they sell it at a greater cost. Now, we all know Paracetamol is even more popular than Ibuprofen and so the volumes they will be able to sell is huge. This is a big lucrative opportunity and is worth spending R&D effort on.
Who knows in what step the carcinogen entered in the above case, but this is serious. So, formulation companies are very strict on such incidents and will always prefer a manufacturer who supplies the purest variety.