Ananth Kumar bats for corrosion audit, standardisation norms

Assures of government help to address the issue

Union minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar on Friday urged the industry to go in for corrosion audit, corrosion control planning and management and put in place standardisation norms. He assured the industry to put in place a mechanism at his ministry level to pursue these initiatives. Kumar was speaking at the international conference and expo organised by NACE International Gateway India Section in Mumbai.

He announced that the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology attached to his ministry will soon enter into a memorandum of understanding with NACE to train employees in corrosion control.

He said though many industries including aerospace, nuclear, offshore industries give due credit to the critical nature of the corrosion problems, government and other industries will have to mitigate corrosion issues without mere considering it as a repair and maintenance issue. According to the World Corrosion Organization, the annual costs of corrosion is estimated at $2.5 trillion per annum or 3 to 4% of the global GDP on an average.

''Therefore, industry will have to start corrosion audit and effectively implement anti corrosion measures through proper planning. As the standardization norms for corrosion control are not currently in place, government agencies along with domestic and global industries can work out protocol in this regard. A task force will be set up to pursue this,'' Kumar said.

Kumar announced that the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology attached to his ministry will soon enter into a memorandum of understanding with NACE to train employees in corrosion control.