Indian Aluminium Association Urges for Higher Import Duties and INR 3 Billion Investment Plan

The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has recently put forward a pre-budget proposal, calling for an increase in import duties and massive investments to facilitate the rapid development of the aluminium industry. Specifically, the AAI recommends hiking the import duty on primary and downstream aluminium products from 7.5% to 10%, while also imposing a 7.5% duty on scrap aluminium. Furthermore, the association has outlined an investment plan of INR 3 billion to meet the anticipated growth in domestic demand in the future.

According to the AAI report, the current per capita consumption of aluminium in India is only 3 kg per year, significantly lower than the global average of 12 kg. To meet the projected domestic demand of 10 million tonnes annually by 2030, the AAI estimates that the industry needs additional investments of INR 3 billion over the next six years. Currently, the industry has already invested more than INR 1.5 billion to increase annual production capacity to 4.2 million tonnes.