New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) India loses Rs.2 lakh crore ($45 billion) every year on account of corrosion of infrastructure, industrial equipment and other vital installations, a leading industry body said as Corrosion Awareness Day is observed globally Sunday.
"While all of us are concerned about the country's growth rate slowing down, India loses a staggering figure of over Rs.2 lakh crore per year due to corrosion, which goes largely unattended," said Baldev Raj, director Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and chairman CII Corrosion Management Committee.
World Corrosion Organization has designated April 24 as the Corrosion Awareness Day.
There is a big opportunity to save costs due to corrosion and enhance the life of products, plant and machinery and civil structures, Raj added and asked the industry and government to collaborate to introduce a legislation similar to that in the US which provides incentives to organisations for taking preventive measures against corrosion.
Corrosion has a huge economic and environmental impact on virtually all facets of the world's infrastructure, from highways, bridges, and buildings to oil and gas, chemical processing, water and wastewater systems and particularly industrial structures.
In addition to causing severe damage and threat to public safety, corrosion disrupts operations and requires extensive repair and replacement of failed assets.
The annual cost of corrosion worldwide is estimated to be $2.2 trillion.
April 24 is observed as the Corrosion Awareness Day to highlight damage to the environment, impact on people and waste of resources, such as water, resulting from corrosion of pipelines, treatment facilities and process industry equipment.
"Awareness and competence in corrosion control have to be supported and improved in Indian industry. Industrial Asset Management needs implementation of corrosion audits, corrosion assessment, and corrosion management" said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
CII said it would hold its first ever Global Corrosion Summit on Aug 24-25 to provide a mechanism for the industry to progress in corrosion mitigation from a reactive status to a predictive status.