Formic acid is a clear, colourless, mobile liquid with a pungent odour. It is highly corrosive and a moderate fire hazard. Formic acid is mainly used in pharmaceutical, pesticide, leather, textile, rubber, steel, paper, food industry etc. Most applications require concentrations of 85% (the industry standard and most common), 90%, 94% or 98-99%, which accounts for 28% of world demand. The largest use, accounting for about 19% of global demand, is as a silage additive in Europe, while almost 15% of global demand is as a preservative in animal feed. Formic acid is used in various stages of leather and textile processing and in natural rubber manufacturing. Formic acid products are widely used in biomaterial preservation and as antibiotics replacers in industrial animal feed. Due to its acidic and reducing reactions formic acid is an important chemical building block in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It is used for acidity control and cleaning in processes where lowest environmental impact is sought and no residues allowed. Formic acid is the simplest organic acid, present in large quantities in animal and plant life. It is a clear liquid with a sharp acidic smell. It decomposes easily in the environment into carbon oxides and water. It is manufactured from carbon monoxide and water. The global demand is around 0.5 million metric tonnes per annum. Global demand growth is forecast at 3.4%/year to 2011. The overall growth rate would be slightly ahead of GDP around 3 to 4% per annum. Regionally, consumption will rise by 4.6%/year in Asia-Pacific, 3.5%/year in Africa and Asia/Middle East, 3%/year in the Americas, 2.6%/year in western Europe and 1.9%/year in Japan. Worldwide, 38 000 tonne/year of new capacity will come onstream within the next four years. Leather sector can be the thrust area for growth. Most applications require formic acid in concentrations of 85%, 90%, 94% or 99%. The Indian demand for the period Apr. 2010 to Mar 2011 is around 27,000 tonnes. The major producers are Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.,Mumbai & Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Co. Ltd.,Gujarat. There is ample space and good scope for this product due to its multivarious end users. New entrepreneurs should think of capacity creation in this field.