18th November 2024, Mumbai: UltraTech Cement Limited, India’s largest cement and ready-mix concrete company, has announced that it is scaling up the use of Electric Vehicles (EV trucks) for movement of material and products in its logistics operations. The Company has signed a new transport service contract for deployment of about 100 electric vehicles (EV Trucks) for the transportation of 75,000 MT of clinker per month from its integrated cement manufacturing unit Dhar Cement Works, located in Madhya Pradesh, to its grinding unit Dhule Cement Works, located in Maharashtra, which is about 400 kms distance for a roundtrip.
UltraTech is the first cement company in India to deploy electric trucks at this scale for such a long lead distance. The transportation of clinker using these electric trucks in place of fossil-fuel based trucks is estimated to help reduce transport emissions by 17,000 MT of CO2 annually.
The scale up follows the successful pilot that commenced in January 2024, wherein UltraTech introduced five electric trucks for transport of clinker on this route. The pilot also included deployment of the charging infrastructure as well as imparting intensive training to the truck drivers. UltraTech is also evaluating additional routes for deployment of more EV trucks in its logistics operations. UltraTech proposes to conduct another pilot using a similar model for transport of clinker between two other manufacturing units of the Company.
Mr. K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said, “UltraTech is fully committed to realising its Net Zero goal by 2050. We have taken a holistic approach to integrating sustainability in our business conduct. The scale up of EV trucks in our logistics operations underscores our commitment to drive the implementation of sustainable practices in the industry.”
UltraTech aims to deploy 500 electric trucks by June 2025 as part of the Government of India’s eFAST initiative. It is among the first cement companies in India to introduce ‘Green Logistics’ in the form of CNG vehicles in 2021, LNG vehicles in 2022, and Electric Trucks in 2024. Through concerted efforts with logistics partners, the Company currently has more than 468 CNG trucks and 67 LNG trucks operational for transport of products and material across several of its manufacturing units.