BRIC nations showed a pattern of growth amid the global financial crisis, and the two emerging economies of the bloc — India and China have been the most sought after countries for foreign direct investment (FDI), said Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) president L Pugazhenthy here today.
"Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) nations showed a pattern of growth while all other countries were facing economic crunch and slowdown consequent to the global meltdown. That is because India after China has been the most sought after country for foreign investments," he said.
Pugazhenthy, who is also the executive director of India Lead Zinc Development Association (ILZDA), in his presidential remarks at a national seminar on 'Non-Ferrous Metals and Global Meltdown-India's Strategies' here, said, "Many Indian non-ferrous companies too have started investing and acquiring mines in countries like UK, USA and Australia."
Earlier, in his inaugural address IIM's former president and former CMD of Nalco, P Parvathisem said India was "least affected" from the current global downturn.
"It is mainly because of various regulatory and control mechanisms that we have and by nature being conservative in our approach," he said adding on the other hand there was absence of such a regulatory authority in other countries.
India witnessed substantial growth in Zinc and Copper production and needs to progressively invest in exploration and mining, Parvathisem said.
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With regard to aluminium, India is endowed with rich deposits and requires R&D efforts for making alumina and "In case of lead, we should strive to develop it in a big way," he said.
"We cannot depend only on exports but we need to pay more attention on domestic market," he stressed adding that Indian economy is expected to grow at about seven per cent.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) P Ramachandra Rao, while making a presentation on Rapid Solidification of Aluminium Alloys, in his address said that there is tremendous scope for developing downstream processes of aluminium alloys.