International Aluminium Institute appoints Hindalco’s Satish Pai as new Board Chairman

The only body representing the global primary aluminium industry, International Aluminium Institute (IAI), has publicised the appointment of Satish Pai as its new Chairman.  Satish Pai is the Managing Director of Hindalco Industries, one of the world’s largest integrated aluminium producers. Previously he was serving as the Vice-Chairman and he succeeds Ben Kahrs, Alcoa Corp’s Chief Innovation Officer.

The Secretary-General of IAI, Miles Prosser said “Satish is an exceptional leader who is as familiar with boots-on-ground issues as he is with geo-economic perspectives. He is well able to convert industry challenges into opportunities – strategic R&D led to Hindalco becoming the first aluminium company to achieve 100% utilisation of bauxite residue in three of the refineries.”

“We welcome him to our board, and I very much look forward to working with him. I would also like to thank Ben for his dedicated service and leadership. Ben has made a very important contribution not only to the development of this association but to the entire industry. On behalf of the members and staff, I’d like to thank him for his service and look forward to his continued contribution to our work.”

The purpose of IAI is to promote the sustainable development of the aluminium industry and to inflate the demand for aluminium products by raising awareness of its unique and valuable properties.

Satish was the driving force behind Hindalco Industries' transformation from an upstream to a fully integrated aluminium player with products that feed into future-critical industries like electric vehicles and low-carbon transportation.

The newly appointed Chairman stated, “I’m excited to work even closer with my industry colleagues and to test the limits of what we can achieve together. Aluminium is the material of choice of the 21st century and being endlessly recyclable, an integral part of the circular economy. I believe this positioning needs to be amplified so that as a sector, we can contribute to the world’s climate action goals. ESG and the sustainability agenda will be key to our future growth path.  I’m looking forward to working through the IAI forum to engage with colleagues to take the aluminium story to a new peak.”

Pai, an engineer by education and profession earlier worked with Schlumberger, based out of Paris, where he was responsible for Schlumberger’s global operations.

Ben Kahrs, the outgoing Chairman, said “I am delighted at Satish’s appointment. He understands the association as a long-time member and will ensure all voices in the room are heard. His substantial global experience will help drive sectoral value. I’m confident Satish has all that it takes to lead our industry forward from here on.”