Hindalco unveils Aluminium Gallery to promote metal usage

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Mumbai, Nov 23: In an initiative to expand the Indian aluminium market, the Aditya Birla group major Hindalco has opened the Aluminium Gallery at Century Bhavan in Mumbai, to provide a platform to showcase diverse and novel uses of the metal.

The gallery will display various products including doors, windows, ladders among others, of around 17 downstream aluminium fabricators. These applications are estimated to account for over 1 million tonne per annum while in India this figure is a mere 60,000 tonne currently.

Hindalco also plans to certify quality aluminium products like ladders, grills, doors, windows and furniture in future, Shashi Maudgal, chief marketing officer, Hindalco, said. “A Hindalco certified product, may well eventually assume the same credibility as an Intel Inside computer in the foreseeable future,” he added.

The company is in talks with the Railways and a Pune based automobile major for usage of aluminium in railway wagons and car bodies respectively, as part of its initiative to increase aluminium usage. Lighter weight translates to higher pay-loads and lower fuel consumption, so aluminium is consistently gaining at the expense of heavier metals worldwide, in transportation.

Commenting on the need for setting up the gallery, Mr Maudgal reiterated the statement from the company strategic direction document which stated, “Where downstream industry is a player, it may need partnership in promoting specific uses of aluminium and growing them.” Based on the success of this outlet, Hindalco plans to set up many more galleries in major metros in the first phase and mini metros in the next phase, he said.

The aluminium market was 8 lakh tonne in 2003-04, approximately 3% of the world market of 29.5 million tonne.