ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY

Aluminium is the second most important metallurgical industry of the country. It plays a very vital role in the overall industrial development of the country. Its elasticity and good conductivity of electricity and heat, and capacity to be moulded into any desired shape has made it a universally accepted metal. It is widely used in the generation and distribution of electricity, manufacturing of aeroplanes, railway coaches, defence and nuclear accessories, utensils, packing, and for making coins. It is a cheaper substitute of steel, copper, zinc, lead, etc. in a large number of industries.

Locational Factors: Availability of bauxite (raw material) and hydro-electricity are the basic requirements for the establishment of aluminium industry.

The production of one tonne of aluminium requires approximately six tonnes of bauxite. About 30 to 40 per cent of the production cost of aluminium is accounted for electricity alone. Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu are the major producers of bauxite in India.

Development: The aluminium industry was started in India during the Second World War at Alupuram (Alwaye) by the Aluminium Company in 1938. It was later on converted into a public sector company in 1944. Another company, namely Aluminium Corporation of India started production of alumina in 1942 at Jaykaynagar (West Bengal). At the time of Independence, there were only two plants in the country with a total installed capacity of 4000 tonnes of ingots.

During the Second Five-Year Plan two new aluminium plants were established at Hirakud (INDAL) and Renukoot (HINDALCO). Another plant was established in the Third Five-Year Plan at Mettur (MALCO) in 1967. The INDAL established a new plant at Belgaum in 1970. Later on the Bharat Aluminium Plant was established at Korba. Consequently the annual production increased to more than three lakh tonnes in 1979. At present, there are seven major aluminium producing plants in

the country. The location of aluminium plants have been shown in Fig- H-ll. A brief account of the important aluminium plants has been given here: