In order for India to meet its production goals, the country must have a dedicated national policy for the aluminium sector. So said National Aluminium Company’s (NALCO) chairman and managing director Tapan Kumar Chand in a recent address.
Speaking at the Annual National Convention of Aluminium, Chand said that such a policy would lead to a doubling of per-capita consumption which would, in turn, drive up production as well.
“There is need for a National Aluminium Policy to enable the industry to produce 10 million tonne of aluminium with 75% in downstream,” he opined.
Chand went on to call upon the Indian government to declare the aluminium sector a core industry, which would help the needed doubling in consumption.
“For this, there is a need to increase applications of aluminium and go for 75% value addition,” explained Chand.
At present, aluminium is utilized in approximately 300 applications, a tenth of the number of applications for the metal globally.
Though aluminium demand growth has remained steady at around 10 percent per annum, experts believe that demand could double within the next several years, ultimately reaching 7 million metric tons per annum.
Such an explosion of demand will necessarily drive production, which will also help boost employment.
“Aluminium industry has the potential to generate an additional employment of 1.2 million at the 10 million tonne production stage,” opined Chand.
He also called upon domestic and international investors to look into Angul Aluminium Park, a joint venture between Nalco and the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). The 223-acre park will be the first plant on the Indian subcontinent that will have a facility for directly obtaining molten aluminium from the smelter. At peak employment, the park is expected to provide jobs for up to 15,000 individuals, which will stimulate an already burgeoning Indian economy.