In Automobiles, Indian Railways and Infrastructure
udaipur. International Zinc Association along with Hindustan Zinc is organizing an International Galvanizing Conference in Delhi from 10th – 11th July 2014 at Hotel Taj Mahal. This conference addresses the issue of building sustainable steel infrastructure for the country, and protecting it from corrosion.
For the first time, around 150 Indian and International experts, opinion leaders, the makers of Zinc, Galvanizers, first and end users of Galvanized products, including top industry bureaucrats from Railways, Highway Authorities and architects and design consultants would come together at a single platform to deliberate on the burning issue of corrosion and add value to the intense discussions on how to build sustainable infrastructure for the country and protect India from corrosion.
Galvanizing essentially is a coating of Zinc on Steel. India is self-sufficient in both Steel capacity (4th largest in the world) as well as Zinc capacity (3rd largest in the world). India is self -sufficient in both Steel and Zinc.
However, in spite of adequate resources, there is immense untapped potential in India, which is evident from the lower per capita consumption of Steel in India at 57 kg against world average of 215 kg, and lower per capita consumption of Zinc in India at 0.5 kg against world average of 1.9 kg.
Scope of galvanization in automobiles sector and Indian railways sector will essentially form part of panel discussion. India loses around 4-5% of GDP annually on account of corrosion losses. Western countries, which are far ahead of us in terms of Infrastructure mandate the use of Galvanizing for the Steel Structures used for bridges, highways, public utility, Airports, Metro Stations, Railways stations etc, and that is how, they are able to preserve long lasting and robust structures. For instance, Athens Bridge Pennsylvania & Curtis Road Bridge Michigan are structures that utilize Galvanized Steel in the form of Rebars and have a long life span of 70 – 75 years. Galvanizing is not only important for the long life of public structures, but also for the safety and security of the public using these structures daily, and hence such an important matter can no longer be ignored. The country is going through the phase of urbanization and in the upcoming Infrastructure boom, Galvanizing, indeed plays a very important and irreplaceable role.
Hon’ble Cabinet minister for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment has agreed to grace the occasion as the Chief Guest, and Hon’ble State minister for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment, Mr. Vishnu Deo Sai, has agreed to be the Guest of Honour. Mr. Tom Albanese, CEO of Vedanta Resources Plc has been invited for the Conference Opening Ceremony. The conference would begin with key note from International Zinc Association Executive Director, Stephen Wilkinson, and Industry outlook from renowned analyst Andrew Thomas from Wood Mackenzie and Director, Mc Kinsey. Thereafter, bureaucrats from Public Institutional bodies like Railways, CPWD, NHAI etc, would highlight the potential for Galvanizing, followed by sessions from various architects, Galvanizers and Industry opinion leaders on Galvanizing in Public and Private Infrastructure. The first day would end with Global market and technology trends in General and Sheet Galvanizing by IZA experts, highlighting the world class examples of sustainable infrastructure.
The second day of the program starts with a dedicated session on Importance of Galvanizing in Automobiles, where speakers from Automobile companies, Auto Experts and Indian Steel producers supplying to the automobile companies would each, present their perspective. This would be followed by Steel producers, Contractors / Architects, Roofing, Pre Engineered Building Companies, would be talking about Galvanizing in Construction and examples like Galvanized Rebars. An interesting part of the Day 2 event is the emerging trends in Solar Farms and activities of International Association of Galvanizers, Indonesia, which is followed by Case Study presentation by Industry participants. The last session of the conference is an intense panel discussion involving Journalists, Government Officials, Industry Leaders, Galvanisers, Architects and Designers. The day ends with a round up from IZA.