The government should introduce financial support through legislation for preventing corrosion of machines, pipelines and industrial structures as companies lose a whopping Rs 2 lakh crore annually due to such damages, CII today said.
The chamber has asked the industry and government "to collaborate to introduce the Corrosion Act in India, like US, which provides incentives to organisations for taking preventive measures against corrosion".
Corrosion has a huge economic and environmental impact in various sectors including highways, bridges, buildings, oil and gas, chemical processing, waste water systems and particularly industrial structures.
"India loses a staggering figure of over Rs 2 lakh crore per year due to corrosion, which goes largely unattended," CII said, adding that the annual cost of corrosion worldwide is estimated to be $2.2 trillion.
To control the losses due to corrosion, there is a need to increase awareness on the issues, it said.
"Industrial Asset Management needs implementation of corrosion audits, corrosion assessment, and corrosion management," CII said.
The industry lobby group has announced to organise a Global Corrosion Summit in August.