India’s leading producer of metals and oil & gas, Vedanta Limited, has announced the formal launch of its latest product, the aluminium cylinder head alloy (CHA), a critical raw material for manufacturing cylinder heads and other automotive components. This is the company’s latest value-added offering in its aluminium product line, which caters to various raw material requirements of the automotive industry. The CHA leverages material design to help automakers increase efficiency of internal combustion engines for improved performance on emission control, in line with BS-VI and CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency/Economy) norms. Currently, this alloy is entirely being imported into India from other countries.

Vedanta has invested in creating cylinder head alloy capacity of 10,000 tonnes using world class technologies of Befesa (Spain) and Properzi (Italy). This initiative is in alignment with the government’s thrust on self-reliance to cater to the domestic requirement of automotive companies and original equipment manufacturers to rely on indigenously procured material. Localisation of the domestic raw material supply chain will surely help the Indian automotive industry.

Speaking about the need for import substitution and making India’s automotive industry self-reliant, Ajay Kapur, managing director (Commercial), Vedanta Limited, said, “For India to become a USD 5-trillion economy by 2025 and an economic powerhouse, the entire manufacturing sector has a crucial role to play. India’s auto component sector is among the fastest growing but lags in contribution to manufacturing turnover. The Indian auto component industry’s aspirations of having a significant share of the global trade calls for a renewed focus on localisation on every business front, particularly with respect to sourcing raw materials.”

The company was also the first to supply Aluminium Primary Foundry Alloy (PFA) for manufacturing wheels to the Indian automotive industry, prior to which the alloy was only being imported to the country.

Vedanta unveiled the product for the domestic industry at the 2nd Automotive Raw Material Localization Conclave & Exhibition hosted by Automotive Components Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).