The International Conference on Aluminium (INCAL 2019) was inaugurated in the presence of Ministry of Mines Secretary Anil Mukim and a galaxy of business leaders and delegates here on Thursday.
The exhibition-cum-conference, being organised by the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) with support of the Ministry of Mines, would be held till February 3. More than 850 delegates, including 150 from 20 foreign countries, are participating.
AAI Chairman and Nalco CMD Dr Tapan Kumar Chand, Vietnam Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau, Myanmar Ambassador Moe Kyaw Aung, Industries Sanjeev Chopra, Vedanta CEO Ajay Dixit, Utkal Alumina chairman Suryakanta Mishra, Italian Consul General Damiano Fancovigh and Thailand Consul General Sweeya Santipitaks were present.
With bullet trains, aerospace, electric vehicles and smart cities set to dominate the next phase of development in emerging economies like India, the spotlight on making aluminium as the metal of choice will be a key focus area in INCAL 2019. Billed as one of the biggest event in the Aluminium calendar in Asia, INCAL 2019 will showcase the latest technologies and advancements in the sector.
Mukim praised the Indian aluminium industry for showcasing India’s strength in front of a global audience and urged the stakeholders to work towards increasing the domestic consumption of aluminium in a sustainable manner and stressed on value addition in the aluminium industry.
Nalco CMD Chand said, “INCAL 2019 has a three-pronged strategy to send across a strong message to the stakeholders in the metal and aluminium industry. At the international level, we are aiming to project aluminium as the futuristic metal, at the national level, we are committed to take steps to increase domestic consumption as there is tremendous scope and at the state level, project mineral-rich Odisha as the Aluminium Capital of India.’’
The conference, besides being held with a theme “Making Aluminium- Driving Growth and Development”, will deliberate on several key topics and issues of Aluminium industry with a special session on downstream prospects and emerging applications of aluminium.
This conference is being attended by top executives of global aluminium industries.