Chennai, November 28:

A whopping $7.6 billion is lost every year in India due to corrosion and an audit on corrosion should become a mandatory part of manufacturing, says an expert here. “Corrosion awareness is low even in the high-value industries like the automobile sector,” said Baldev Raj, director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, here. Speaking to media persons ahead of a three-day long ‘CORCON-2005’ international conference on corrosion in Chennai, he said every thing, from ships and nuclear reactors to space shi-ps and household water pipes, is subject to rusting.

“Even in a developed country, loss in GDP due to corrosion is estimated to be 3-4 per cent.”

In India, corrosion losses are up to four percent of the GDP. “Corrosion audit should become a mandatory part of the manufacturing facility routine, like energy audit and quality audit,” said Raj, a distinguished metallurgist. Corrosion has to be addressed from project initiation.

“It has to be built into the design from the moment a project goes on to the drawing board. Even industries that are up-to-date on maintenance, zero breakdowns and zero rejections, do not address corrosion as an issue,” he said. The conference, held under the chairmanship of Baldev Raj, will have around 750 corrosion experts, including from abroad, discussing the latest developments in corrosion resistant materials.