Hindalco opens 'Aluminium Gallery' for market share

New Delhi, June 11: In a bid to expand its aluminimum market, Hindalco Industries Ltd has opened an 'Aluminium Gallery' which would give the manufacturers of aluminium goods an opportunity to showcase their end-products for sale.

''Our customers often do not have their wherewithal to present their products in a showroom environment to their own customers.

The gallery concept is meant to showcase their products and drive the market on a positive quality spiral,'' Hindalco Aluminium Head (Marketing and Sales) S K Maudgal said here.

The flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group plans to expand the aluminium market by helping its customers (manufacturers of aluminium goods) in the sale of end-products through the 'Aluminium Gallery', first of which was inaugurated at Gurgaon last evening by Mr Maudgal.

''India's per capita consumption of aluminium is 1.1 kg as against 25 kg per capita of the US, but its is growing rapidly,'' he said, adding that Hindalco had decided to speed up the growth of aluminium market by assisting its customers in their business.

He said there was a need to make people aware of the quality of aluminium products including doors, windows, ladders and false ceilings, ''which has been welcomed in the West''.

In comparison with the steel products, Mr Maudgal said aluminium products have a lifetime value and thus would soon become a preferred one.

In his view over the future of the aluminium market, he said ''I cannot predict how this market will grow but it is a snow ball now... and will soon start rolling.'' On a poser to the number of such Aluminium Galleries in India, he said, ''It could be in hundreds in the years to come. We are very cautious about giving franchise to its customers.'' On maintaining the quality of products being manufatured by its customers, he said that the company had always been associated with high quality in its product lines, and plans to adopt measures to check the quality of end-products.

Hindalco has a market share of 48 per cent in the aluminimum segment.

UNI