AAI Seeks Ministry of Mines’ Intervention to Secure Aluminium Self-Reliance

Bhubaneswar,swa news : The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has submitted a detailed representation to the Ministry of Mines, calling for urgent action to future-proof India’s aluminium industry so that Indian industries can bring in investments worth ~ ₹20 lakhcrores.AAI points out that the current policy framework iscreating challengesfor the country’s aluminium manufacturing base, particularly amid a surge in imports from aluminium surplus nationsdriven byglobal tariff and non-tariff protectionist measures on aluminium.

AAI in their submission has highlighted that there has been a jump of over 50% in aluminium imports in the country in the last five years. To safeguard the industry from rising imports and encourage investments, the submission calls for a uniform import duty of 15% on all aluminium products under the relevant categories, along with the enforcement of stringent quality norms for non-standard scrap imports. These measures are critical to protect domestic manufacturing, prevent India from becoming a dumping ground for poor qualityscrap, attract long-term investments, and ensure India’s aluminium industry is self-reliant and doesn’t depend on imports.

According to the Government of India’s Vision 2047 for the aluminium industry, aluminium has been identified as a strategic metal crucial to India’s industrial transformation, powering defence, infrastructure, national security, power, aerospace, transportation and overall economic growth.

India’s aluminium demand currently stands at 5.5 million tonnes and is projected to reach 8.5 million tonnes by 2030. According to the Aluminium Vision Document, this demand is expected to surge nearly sixfold to 37 million tonnes by 2047, requiring investments exceeding ₹20 lakh crore to build a self-reliant ecosystem.

However, without swift action, India risks repeating the rare earth scenario seen in China, where strategic materials became trade levers through export restrictions.This challenge is compounded by global trends in ‘scrap nationalism’, where developed economies like the US and Europe retain high-quality scrap for domestic circularity while exporting poor-grade materialto countries like India. This protectionist trendcould erode India’s manufacturing base by curtailing future investments and derail its Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.While Global economies are realizing the importance of aluminium being a strategic metal and facilitating their domestic industry with tariff and non-tariff barriers, similar measures in India can preventshortfall of aluminium,which can hamper GDP andinfrastructuregrowth.

The association reiterated that a thriving domestic aluminium sector has already generated over800,000 direct and indirectopportunities andsupports 4,000+ MSMEs.Immediate investments worth approximately ₹2 lakh crore, already in the pipeline, are expected to enhance employment opportunities and support the growth and development of new MSMEs. This will significantly enhancethe Government’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision by building resilient supply chains.

The submission to the Ministry of Mines follows a similar representation to the Ministry of Financeand DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce), forming part of a coordinated industry effort to push for inter-ministerial alignment on aluminium sector reforms.