Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group
As monsoon rains sweep across India, an often overlooked economic risk is ‘corrosion’. Rusting of iron and steel due to moisture, heat, and pollutants results in a 5% loss to India’s GDP annually, a drain that is both massive and avoidable.
To protect India’s infrastructure during the monsoons, zinc emerges as a strategic mineral with growing relevance in both infrastructure and energy sectors. Zinc is a national protector, an essential mineral that shields steel infrastructure, vehicles, and buildings from decay, enhancing their life span and safety. In a country like India, where infrastructure faces severe weathering, galvanization must become a mainstream practice, not an afterthought.
Zinc is also a future-critical mineral, with its emerging role in clean technology and potential in India’s clean energy and storage revolution. Today, zinc is being explored as an alternative to lithium in high-tech batteries.
Zinc galvanized steel offers durability against heat, pollution, moisture, and mechanical damage while ensuring long-lasting performance. Galvanized steel is also cost-effective as it incurs lower maintenance costs thereby increasing asset life and resulting in significant economic savings.
Steel, which constitutes over 70% of most vehicle bodies, is highly susceptible to corrosion unless it is protected. Zinc is the single most effective material to protect steel from corrosion. In international markets like North America, Europe, China and Japan, over 90% of vehicles use zinc-coated bodies. In stark contrast, India lags with only about 0 to 25% of vehicles utilizing zinc-coated bodies.
Through its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Limited, India’s only and the world’s largest integrated zinc producer, Vedanta has been at the forefront of promoting galvanization and responsible zinc use across infrastructure, mobility, and green tech. With a 7,800 km-long coastline, large regions face extreme corrosive conditions. Corrosion costs India approximately 5% of its GDP annually, a stark contrast to countries like Japan and Australia, where zinc-coated steel has reduced this figure to under 1.5%.
Galvanization is not just about preventing rust; it's about protecting national assets, conserving public wealth, and accelerating India’s industrial resilience. As India inches towards the goal of 300 MTPA steel production and aims to become a developed country, zinc galvanization will help in reducing maintenance costs and higher overhead costs for upcoming buildings and infrastructure projects.
