Vijay Sharma1:18
Namaskar. Good afternoon. Privileged. Thanks, Republic Bharat. I will share my learnings on a very critical aspect which is a deterrent to our nation's aspirations and our metal to handle it. Our aspirations, we all know, Viksit Bharat by 2047, among top three global economies ASAP. We are building infrastructure, highways, airports, metros, water infra, smart cities, and many more world-class assets. This infra construction expansion is not merely about building things. It is about A, creating opportunities, B, improving quality of life, C, enhancing competitiveness and ensuring prosperity for future generations. Equally important is that these assets remain productive, safe, and sustainable throughout the intended life. Sustainable. When we hear the word sustainability or sustainable, the first words which come to the mind are climate change, renewable energy, carbon emissions. They are undoubtedly important, but to me, it is a myopic view. Sustainability is much broader. It is beyond carbon. It is based on three P's, three pillars. The foremost, of course, is people. The words which come to the mind are safe communities, quality infrastructure, health, hygiene, and quality of life. Second, planet — responsible use of resources, lower emissions, long life, and environmental stewardship. Prosperity — economic growth, productivity, life cycle, and competitiveness. The true sustainability, to me, is beyond carbon. When people, planet, and prosperity move forward together. Even UN SDGs and our own initiatives have the same focus. However, one of the largest threats to this definition of sustainability is hiding in plain sight. What is this? Is it inflation? Is it water scarcity? Is it energy scarcity? Or is it even climate change? I believe it is corrosion.
Most people think corrosion is just rust. In reality, corrosion is a silent killer. It weakens infrastructure, reduces efficiency, increases maintenance cost, and shortens service life. It can also impact human safety. But is it worth talking about at this forum? What is the cost of corrosion? There are studies — 3 to 4% of the global GDP gets eroded because of corrosion, and in India it is also around 4%. This small innocuous number of 4%, how big is it? Is it enormous? 125 billion dollars. 12 lakh crore rupees. Ironically, this 12 lakh crore is equivalent to our this year's national infra budget. It is more than 18 times the funding under Jal Jeevan Mission every year. Every year more than 40% of the potable drinking water distributed gets wasted because of leakage. Interestingly, it is more than half of last year's GST. For us, this challenge aggravates. 11,000 km of coastal line, very harsh environmental conditions. It is a threat to our forthcoming blue economy aspirations also. That is why corrosion is not merely a maintenance issue. It is a national economic issue. It is also having a big impact on society and human lives. Perhaps people will remember the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse in the US — 46 lives gone — and there are many more such examples. These are global lessons for all of us. Corrosion impacts all three pillars of sustainability. It hurts people — safety risks, unreliability. It hurts planet — additional raw materials, energy, transportation, manufacturing. It also hurts prosperity — reduced productivity, increased maintenance, disrupted operations, and enormous avoidable economic losses. But there is encouraging news. Corrosion is preventable. The challenge today is not the technology. It is the mindset. We focus on the initial capex, but we ignore opex. We celebrate construction, but neglect preservation. This approach must change.
What we must do, what India must do — I believe there are five priority areas to fight this war against corrosion. Number one, create national awareness. This is such a forum. I appeal to all. Number two, adopt life cycle values instead of mere capex. Number three, mandate asset health audits and annual disclosures. Number four, strengthen education, research, standards, and scale up investments. And fifth, encourage adoption of proven solutions — better protective systems, better materials like stainless steel, improved design, modern predictive and monitoring technologies. It is doable. We have the metal. We have witnessed it in the last 20 years. While concluding, I reiterate — corrosion may appear to be a technical or maintenance issue, but its consequences are economic, environmental, social, and human too. Therefore, corrosion management is not merely an engineering responsibility. It is a national responsibility. Indeed, corrosion management is a sustainability imperative for Viksit Bharat. We are a nation of metal. We can do it. Let's do it together. Dhanyawad. Jai Hind.
