Indian cement industry embraces EV trucks

The Indian cement industry is piloting the use of EV trucks with the deployment of around 150 E-trucks as part of the country’s drive to promote green logistics. According to The Times of India, the country’s cement industry, which is home to a cement production capacity of around 670Mta, hopes that the use of E-trucks will help reduce operating costs as long as hurdles such as the higher cost of ownership and the weight of the batteries can be overcome. 

“Despite challenges such as higher cost of ownership, longer payback periods, and limited charging infrastructure, the cement sector has shown leadership by deploying EVs for material handling and dispatch operations, even on lead distance routes exceeding 10km,” said Madhavkrishna Singhania, deputy managing director and CEO of JK Cement, speaking at the Green Cementech 2024 conference.

The conference also marked the release of a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and CMA titled ‘Greening Logistics: Electrification in cement & raw material transport’. According to the report, the transition to E-trucks presents an opportunity to slash logistic costs by 25-40 per cent. Vehicles that operate over 8000km per month can achieve profitability considering current energy and infrastructure costs. Additionally, E-trucks powered by renewable energy could cut CO₂ emissions by up to 100 per cent when compared to internal combustion engine trucks, which emit approximately 6kg of CO₂/t of cement transported over a 100km range, said the report.