Coal India to retrofit LNG kits in dumpers to save Rs 500 crore annually and cut emission

New Delhi: Seeking to cut diesel use by upto 40% and save Rs 500 crore annually on fuel, public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL) would retrofit LNG kits in its dumpers — the big trucks engaged in transporting coal in mines.

Globally, LNG hybrid operation in high capacity mining dump trucks has been implemented by US, Canada, Mexico, Russia and Ghana.

The world’s largest coal miner has tied up with GAIL and BEML for retrofitting LNG kits in its two 100 tonne dumpers as a pilot project.

Once the kit is successfully retrofitted and tested, these dumpers will be able to run on dual fuel system and their operations will be significantly cheaper and cleaner with use of LNG.

“CIL has over 2,500 dumpers operating in opencast coal mines and the fleet consumes about 65 to 75 per cent of the total diesel used by CIL. LNG is likely to replace diesel use by 30 to 40 per cent and reduce fuel cost by about 15 per cent paving the way for Rs 500 crore savings annually if all heavy earth moving machines including dumpers are retrofitted with LNG kits,” a company statement said.

CIL spends Rs 3,500 crore on buying diesel every year to operate its fleet of dumpers.

UNI