Rail track galvanisation to boost zinc demand, says Hindustan Zinc CEO

India is going to witness a growth in zinc demand, Sunil Duggal, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, told CNBC-TV18.

"If we look at CAGR of the last 10 years, it is around 4-5 percent. Going forward if we benchmark our various verticals where the zinc is used, we are very low, it is around 0.6-0.7 percent per capital consumption against a global average of around 2 percent. So, we have a long way to go,” he said.

“In sanitaryware, the demand has grown by around 7 percent. On galvanisation it has grown by around 14 percent, especially the solar towers where it has grown by 14 percent, and the rest it has grown in the zinc oxide market where it has grown by around 15 percent. So, huge growth in demand has taken place, but still it has to go further,” he pointed out.

Galvanisation market in India is yet to grow. Around 18 percent of steel is used by railways and a large quantity of that is used for electrification. Only 35 percent of India routes are galvanised. “We are in constant touch with the government. We are very happy to tell you that for the first time in FY19, the railways has agreed to use 1,000 kilometre of track which will be re-laid, it will be galvanised,” he said.