Non-ferrous metals in India

THE past two decades have witnessed a multifold increase in the production of metals in India which are basic to any venture for industrialisation of a country . Once the basic approach to the planned development of the country was finalised , in order to give the teeming millions of our country a reasonable living standard-minimum requi-rement of which is food, cloth and shelter for every living being it was the natural corrollary then to exploit all the available natural resources of men, minerals and materials that our planners set out to achieve . The three Five-Year Plans were a result of this thinking and the country has gone quite some distance towards achieving its
planned goals inspite of two wars with powerful neighbours
and in the wake of two serious droughts faced by the coun-try . Basic industries have been established and the produ- ction capacity achieved for iron and steel and aluminium amounts to a considerable increase achieved in few count-ries in such a short time. The production of copper has lagged behind but serious and strenuous efforts are being made to set up the second smelter and refinery in the country at Khetri, in the public sector, at an early date. Due to certain contingencies faced by the country in the past few years named above , the starting of the Fourth Plan has been delayed and is now proposed to begin in April, 1969.