Did you know that aluminium, a very versatile metal, touches every aspect of our lives? From aircrafts to automobiles, from power cables to foils, aluminium can be fashioned into myriad shapes in a variety of applications. Moreover, aluminium is considered the most environment-friendly metal as it is endlessly re-cyclable.

To showcase the various applications of aluminium in our day-to-day lives, the Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco has launched the Aluminium Gallery in Mumbai. Situated at Century Bhavan, this 800-sq-ft gallery takes you on an exciting tour through a whole new world of aluminium. You walk through a wide range of sliding and openable windows; intricately designed window grills, and attractive looking coffee tables and chairs; step ladders designed with the safety of the user in mind; trendy aluminium ceilings and floorings for home as well as commercial purposes. The remote controlled rolling shutter on display demonstrates the modern uses this metal can be put to. The gallery also has on display lifestyle items like photo frames, candle stands and delicate looking pill boxes which can be used for gifting purposes.

The gallery also displays various other aluminium products that go into construction of buildings like composite panels, curtain walling, roofings and wall claddings, and showcases the metal's light-weight character which makes it a convenient substance for use in exhibitions and galleries for setting up displays.

The Aluminium Gallery is the first of its kind in the commodity business. With the launch of this innovative concept, Hindalco aims to boost its sales by giving its customers a hands-on-experience while shopping for their aluminium needs. The Company also hopes that the gallery will lead to co-branding, marketing and promotion opportunities with quality manufacturers. The gallery currently has on display aluminium products of big companies including Hunter Douglas India Pvt Ltd, Elesar Focchi, Alutec, Southern Aluminium & Glazing Ind. Pvt Ltd, Sujan Impex and Jayakrishna Aluminium Ltd.

The gallery's target audience includes architects, interior designers, students of architecture and the general public. The Company also plans to expand to Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.

"This foray is a part of the Company's key direction to play the role of a market driver in India," said Shashi Maudgal, Hindalco's Chief Marketing Officer. According to him, there is a huge disparity in the consumption rates of aluminium in India and the world. The Indian aluminium market was eight lakh tonnes in 2003-04, only about 3 per cent of the world's market size of 29.5 million tonnes.

Hindalco currently holds a 40-per-cent slice of the Indian aluminium market and has aggressively promoted the use of aluminium through products like its Aura alloy wheels, Freshwrapp kitchen foil and Everlast roofing sheets. The Company also plans to certify quality aluminium products like ladders, grills, doors, windows and furniture in the future. "Hindalco-certified products may well eventually assume the same credibility as an Intel Inside computer in the foreseeable future," says Maudgal.

As part of its marketing thrust the Company is in talks with the Indian Railways and an automobile major for the increased use of aluminium in railway wagons and truck bodies respectively. The metal has been gaining ground in the transportation industry thanks to its light weight which translates in to higher payloads and lower fuel consumption.