Mining giants are enthusiastic at the ‘Made in India’ call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and call for a re-look at the approach by the government to various mining proposals to make it self-sufficient in metal consumption, Vedanta Resources CEO Tom Albanese said here on Thursday.
Speaking to this correspondent on the sidelines of a three-day conference of the International Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium Society (IBAAS) here, Mr. Albanese said the industry was in favour of time-bound action with a comprehensive policy in place to encourage foreign direct investment into the mining sector and encourage value addition to manufacture more import substitutes.
“Mr. Modi’s initiatives have generated tremendous enthusiasm among investors from the United States, China, Australia, Canada and other countries,” he said.
Mr. Albanese, who earlier served as CEO of Rio Tinto, said the controversies over bauxite mining were ‘unwarranted’ as eco-friendly technologies were available to explore the reserves in a sustainable manner. “We want to contribute immensely to the stakeholders by providing job opportunities and developing the periphery. We have the best technologies available and only the best practices will be followed even in disposal of red mud and reusing it,” he said.
By promoting value addition, the domestic aluminium sector, placed fifth in the world, had the potential to grow to $210-250 billion industry, he said, advocating dedicated industrial parks for aluminium complexes.
He said together with 250 billion tonne of coal reserves and rich bauxite deposits in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the aluminium industry could prevent drain of foreign exchange if value addition of aluminium products was promoted in a big way for aerospace, defence, shipping and other core sectors.
The per capita aluminium consumption in India is only 1.7 to 1.8 kg. “India’s metal consumption is one-tenth of China. If metal production and consumption are increased, India has the potentiality to double its per capita GDP in the next 10 to 15 years,” he stated.
