By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 24, 2018: India must have a national aluminium policy to boost overall production and double per capita consumption of the metal in the country, according to chairman cum managing director of National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Tapan Kumar Chand.

Speaking at the Annual National Convention of Aluminium held in Bangalore, Chand said: ‘’There is need for a National Aluminium Policy to enable the industry to produce 10 million tonne of aluminium with 75% in downstream.”

Urging the union government to include aluminium in the group of core industries, Chand said India needs to double its per capita consumption. “For this, there is a need to increase applications of aluminium and go for 75% value addition,” he pointed out. At present, there are some 300 aluminium applications in India, which is barely one-tenth of the 3,000 applications existing globally, Chand who is also chairman of Aluminium Association of India (AAI), added.

The convention was attended by top leaders of the aluminium Industry, policy makers, secondary producers, technologists and foreign delegates. In his address, Chand emphasised on the scope of the aluminium Industry to generate employment. “Aluminium industry has the potential to generate an additional employment of 1.2 million at the 10 million tonne production stage,” he said.

Aluminium industry is tipped to have strong growth prospects in India. While domestic aluminium demand has been growing at a rate of 10% every year, it is projected to double in the next 5-7 years to around 7 million tonne.

Calling upon prospective investors and stakeholders to look at Angul Aluminium Park as an attractive investment option, he invited Industries to set up units there. The park was developed jointly by Nalco and state government owned IDCO.