India has mineable Bauxite reserve for next 25 years

　　Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi has revealed that the total reserves of Bauxite in India are 3.89 billion tonnes of which 0.656 billion tonnes are economically mineable as that will be consumed by industries for next 25 years.

TIFAC shared this data during a National-level meeting held at Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) here a few days ago. The meeting was organised by TIFAC, JNARDDC, and Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi.

The meeting holds importance considering that the task of holding it was to prepare a consolidated preliminary report on Bauxite. The report will go a long way in shaping the future of metallurgical and non-metallurgical use of the mineral.

In the meeting, TIFAC officials informed others that total production of Bauxite was 24 million tonnes in 2016-17 but only 19.6 million tonnes had been utilised by industry in metallurgical and non-metallurgical applications. Hence, the industry may explore the possibility of utilising all the produced Bauxite with its maximum capacity to produce alumina and metals. Therefore, scope of resource available must be explored for economically mineable reserves in the future.

“The task of the meeting was to prepare a consolidated preliminary report on Bauxite highlighting the potential for further scope of value addition within the country and export abroad,” Dr Anupam Agnihotri, Director, JNARDDC told ‘The Hitavada’.

In the meeting, various aspects relating to Bauxite reserves, utilisation in various areas from non-metallurgical grade to metallurgical grade were discussed. The broader focus will be on research and development, and acquisition related to exploration, beneficiation, value addition and recycling.

Dr Agnihotri said that technical input would definitely help JNARDDC in incorporation or preparation of final report on Bauxite jointly with TIFAC. He also said that India must utilise resources within the country and derive maximum benefit out of those.

Dr Upendra Singh, Principal Scientist, JNARDDC, said, “Bauxite production in India should grow at 17.7 per cent through 2020, with an estimated 8.2 per cent contribution to the global output this year alone. However, we have to work on available reserves to get more mineable Bauxite to meet the future requirements.”

The issues such as status on production of Bauxite, utilisation of low grade ore, use of Bauxite for value addition in various industries, development of new products, export and import of Bauxite also were discussed.

Dr P G Bhukte, Principal Scientist, conducted the proceedings of the meeting. Sanjay Singh, Advisor and Scientist, TIFAC, New Delhi; Rahul Kumar, DST, New Delhi; Dr Ajit Sahu, Vedanta; P Sengupta, SKG Refractory; Anil Sutane and P Mishra from Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur; Gajanan Thakre, Dr S P Puttewar, M T Nimje, M J Chaddha, Dr M Najar, Dr Suchita Rai, and Nitin Warhadpande were present during the meeting.