Nagpur : Country’s first-ever national workshop on high value aluminium alloy for defence, aero, railways  and auto sector was inaugurated by Nalco CMD and chairman of Aluminium Association of India (AAI), Dr. TK Chand, here at Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) on Friday.

The AAI chairman, in his inaugural address,  stressed that the viability of Indian aluminium industry critically hinges on its reach at the high end aluminium value chain. Stating that the introduction of T-20 high speed train by railways, metro trains, electric vehicles, smart cities, rural electrification will spur up the aluminium demand in the country, he said that in next ten years the requirement of high strength aluminium alloy will increase by five fold. According to him,  while there are  3000 applications of aluminium worldwide, the use of aluminium applications in India is confined to a meagre 10%.

Dr Chand also highlighted about the upcoming Aluminium Park near NALCO’s Smelter Plant, at Angul, which will be the cradle ground for different kinds of downstream industries apart from manufacturing value added products.

Director JNARDDC  Dr. Anupam Agnihotri, also spoke on the occasion and stressed on the importance of R&D activities on various applications of aluminium alloys in different sectors.

The inaugural session was attended by delegates from IIT Mumbai, DMRL, IIT Bhubaneswar, ARAI, NCAIR, VDIH, HAL, DMSRDE, NALCO, AAI, BALCO, VEDANTA, HINDALCO IDCO, IPICOL, Jindal Aluminium Limited Minex and other associated institutions and industries.