The Government is in the advanced stages of finalising a ‘Mission Plan' for aluminium to enhance per capita consumption of the metal in India and facilitate better exploitation of bauxite and coal resources.
Mr Vishwapati Trivedi, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, said the Mission Plan, when finalised, will also help the Government evolve a national policy for well planned growth of the Indian aluminium sector. “The plan will not only be relevant for the aluminium industry but strategic planning of the metal industry as a whole will revolve round it in the coming decades,” he said while inaugurating the Sixth International Conference on Aluminium (INCAL), here on Tuesday.
He said the Department of Science and Technology is actively involved with the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) to prepare a document on technology roadmap for Indian aluminium industry.
Mr G. Srinivas, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, pointed out that India's per capita aluminium consumption was about 1.5 kg, while that in Germany was 38 kg, Japan 30 kg and China 12 kg.
He felt that India and China will dictate prices and production of the metal by 2030, contributing about 44 per cent of the world production. “Faster clearances of mining leases and allocation of coal blocks for the aluminium sector will determine the pace of growth of this sector,” he pointed out.
Mr D. Bhattacharya, Managing Director of Hindalco and Honorary President of AAI, said the aluminium value chain in India was changing, with the transport and packaging sector set to consume more quantities of the metal. While electrical industry accounts for 41 per cent of the aluminium consumption in the country, the transport sector has a share of 17 per cent at present.
While the contribution of secondary aluminium in total production is to the extent of 20 per cent in India, that in the US was 57 per cent and Germany 61 per cent. “If one kg of aluminium replaces conventional material in vehicles, it will eliminate 20 kg of carbon dioxide. Railway wagons can use up to five tonnes of the metal per wagon,” he said.
