Aluminium wire has been used for the purpose of electricity transmission since the early 1900s. Mostly the utility companies used it within their plant. It has many advantages over copper wires. Any copper wire manufacturer knows that it is lighter more flexible wire than copper wire and also less expensive. Aluminium wire suppliers on the other hand have to be content with some power grid clients and such is still the case.
These days due to the rising costs of copper wires, aluminium wire is getting more popular and it is now used for building wire. Electrical contractors find it a more economical option to shift to the aluminium alloy as specified by the National Electrical Code (NEC). Contractors are also interested in this wire as it is a cost saving and less bulky option for low voltage feeders. The give-and-take in this is that and aluminium building wire has half the weight of copper but needs to have 50% greater area than copper to carry the same current. There have been some innovations to fix that problem though and the aluminium conductors can be compacted in a way such that the overall diameter of the aluminium wire is exactly the same as copper.
There are some companies who supply both copper and aluminium wire. The latter needs to be supplied in half-hard, hard drawn annealed condition based on the specification spelled out by the client. The clients that such a copper wire manufacturer has are cable manufacturers, engineering equipments manufacturers, winding wire manufacturers and the like.
A copper wire manufacturer from India has to be conscious of international quality standards if he is looking to export. His manufacturing process cannot fail on any count that is likely to affect the quality of the product. The same is true for aluminium wire. The quality check staff working under the supplier has to be very vigilant about the norms set globally and not be satisfied with inferior standards.
This implies that the standards in the local market may be quite different from those in the international market, based on the needs. The only problem is to stay true to the standards that are accepted in the country importing the aluminium or copper wire from India. The necessary infrastructure with effective management needs to be there for the skilled professionals involved in copper and aluminium wire manufacturing. For supply in India, conforming to the ISO standards is enough.