NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc. Geography Notes on Aluminum & Copper Industry in India
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Aluminum Industry
- Aluminum smelting is the second important metallurgical industry after iron and steel in India.
- About 50% of total aluminum in India is consumed in the generation and distribution of electricity.
- 20% used for utensils and industrial ware; building and architecture5% ; transport12% ; packing 8% and miscellaneous5% .
- Per capita consumption of aluminium in India is 500gm whereas in America it is 5.9 kg.
- In 1937, Aluminium Corporation of India was formed at Jay Kay Nagar in W. Bengal.
- In 1943, Indian Aluminium Company Limited (INDAL) started and the plant was set up in Allupuram (Kerala) .
- During 2nd FYP, two more plants were established: Indian Aluminium Company, estd.in Hirakud (Orissa) ; Hindustan Aluminium Corp. (HINDALCO) , Renukut (U P)
- In 1965, BALCO established at Korba in M P
- Another plant was established at Ratnagiri in 1975.
- In 1965, MALCO (Madras Al Company Limited) was established in Mettur.
- In 1981, NALCO (National Al Comp. Ltd.) was established at Daman Jodi, near Jaypore at Koraput Dist. of Orissa.
- NALCO is the largest
- In 198889, another unit was set up at Ankul in district Dhenkanal (Orissa) .
High Production Cost
The production cost is quite high in India because:
- costly electricity;
- interruption in the supply of bauxite;
- inadequate supply of electricity;
- inadequate supply of some rawmaterials like petroleum, coke, cryolite, caustic soda and aluminium fluoride.
Copper Industry
- In 1924, Indian Copper Company (ICC) was set up
- In 1924, a plant was set up in Singhbhum (Ghatshila) , Bihar.
- In 1967, Hindustan Copper Limited came into being, took over the work of ICC in 1972, since then, the HCL is sole major producer of copper in India.
- Copper is produced at two units: Maubandhar, near Ghatshila; Khetri in Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan.
- Maubandhar receives copperore from Mausabani, Rakha, Dhobani, Rajdah, Tampohar, Turamdih.
- Khetri copper complex at Khetri has been erected by HCL, production started from 1974 onwards.
- It receives copper ore from Khetri, Kolihan, Chandmari, Dariba (Alwar) , etc.
- Malanjkhand mines at Balaghat, M P also supplies copperore to Khetri.
- A new project is comingup in Agnigundala in Guntur, AP.
- Per capita copper consumption in India is 250 gm.
- Presently, India produces only l⟋12th part of its requirement rest is imported from Zambia, Zaire, Chile and USA
Zinc Industry
- At present, four zinc smelter are there in the country: Alwaye, Debari, Chanderia (Rajasthan) and Vishakhapatnam.
- Jawar near Udaipur has the largest reserve of zinc core.
- Rampura Agucha of Bhilwara dist.
- India produces half of its requirements and imports rest.
- Hindustan Zinc Limited was set up in 1965.
Lead Industry
- First lead smelting plant was set up at Tundu near Dhanbad in 194243.
Engineering Industries Machine Tools
In 1930s, Kirloskar Bros. Ltd. but, the first large scale modern factory was Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd (HMT) in 1953 at Bangalore with Swiss collaboration. It has multiunit: Pinjore (in Haryana) , 1963. Kalamessary in Kerala (1964) Hyderabad (1965) . Ajmer (grinding unit) .
- Another is Heavy Machine Tools Plant at Ranchi, in 1966 wiuTCzech. assistance.
- Third is, Parag Tools Limited at Secunderabad.
- National Instrument Factory, Calcutta.
- The Instrumentation Limited at Kota and Palaghat.
Heavy Mechanical Equipments
- Heavy Engineering Corporation, Ranchi, 1958.
- Mining and Allied Machinery Corp. Ltd. at Durgapur.
- Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd. , setup in 1947.
- Triveni Structural Ltd. at Naini, Allahabad with the assistance of Austria.
- Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Ltd. established in 1956 at Vishakhapatnam.
- Messers Jessop & Co. Ltd. , Calcutta.
- Richardson & Cruddas Ltd. Mumbai.
- Larsen & Toubro Ltd. , Powai, Mumbai.
Heavy Electrical Equipment Industry
- 1956, Heavy Electricals Ltd.
- 1964, Bharat Heavy Electricals; later both merged to form BHEL.
- BHEL exports boilers to Malaysia, Libya and Egypt.
- It has six units: Bhopal, Tiruchirapalli, Ramchandrapuram (near Hyderabad) , Bangalore, Jammu and Haridwar.
- Electric fans: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Secunderabad.