The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has submitted a pre-budget proposal to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which operates under India’s Ministry of Commerce. The proposal requests enhanced import protection to safeguard the domestic market and attract new investments, with the aim of making India self-sufficient in aluminium production—a sector crucial for national development and strategic applications. The AAI has proposed an increase in import duties on primary and downstream aluminium products, highlighting the metal’s significance in realizing India’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

Aluminium is essential to various sectors, including defence, aerospace, renewables, electric vehicles, power transmission, and sustainable infrastructure. Despite this, India’s per capita aluminium consumption is only 3 kg per annum, significantly lower than the global average of 12 kg. The AAI noted that higher aluminium usage is typical in advanced economies, citing that countries like the USA, Malaysia, and Indonesia recognize aluminium as a strategic sector.

In its representation, the AAI pointed out that imports of primary aluminium have doubled in recent years, along with a notable increase in low-quality scrap and downstream products, particularly from China.

The aluminium sector in India has already invested over Rs 1.5 trillion to expand production capacity to 4.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). However, to meet an anticipated domestic demand of 10 MTPA by 2030, the industry will require an additional investment of Rs 3 trillion over the next six years, which would generate significant employment opportunities within India.

Industry leaders have argued that the influx of imports is deterring new investments, primarily due to low import duties on primary and downstream products. This situation stands in stark contrast to other non-ferrous metals, where duties on scrap and primary products are more aligned. Consequently, the AAI has urged the central government to raise the import duty on primary and downstream products from the existing 7.5% to 10%, and to set the duty on aluminium scrap at 7.5% to match that of other aluminium products.