India loses 5% of GDP to rust: Vedanta chief calls for urgent adoption of galvanized steel

New Delhi: As monsoon rains sweep across India, Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal, in a compelling post highlighted that rusting of iron and steel due to moisture, heat & pollutants results in a 5 per cent loss to India’s GDP annually, a drain that is both massive and avoidable.

“Everything made of iron or steel is prone to rusting due to wetness and moisture,” he wrote. “This is a huge loss, which can easily be prevented. The solution lies in galvanization where steel is coated with zinc.”

With this, Agarwal spotlighted zinc as a national protector an essential mineral that shields steel infrastructure, vehicles, and buildings from decay, enhancing their life span and safety. His call to action is clear: in a country like India, where infrastructure faces severe weathering, galvanization must become a mainstream practice, not an afterthought.

Beyond corrosion prevention, Agarwal also positioned zinc as a future-critical mineral, pointing to its emerging role in clean technology. “Today, zinc is being explored as an alternative to lithium in high-tech batteries,” he noted, indicating zinc’s strategic potential in India’s clean energy and storage revolution.

Through its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd, India’s only and the world’s largest integrated zinc producer, Vedanta has been at the forefront of promoting galvanization and responsible zinc use across infrastructure, mobility, and green tech. Zinc galvanized steel offers durability against heat, pollution, moisture, and mechanical damage while ensuring long-lasting performance. Galvanized steel is also cost-effective as it incurs lower maintenance costs thereby increasing asset life and resulting in significant economic savings.

Steel, which constitutes over 70 per cent of most vehicle bodies, is highly susceptible to corrosion unless it is protected. Zinc is the single most effective material to protect steel from corrosion.