Coal news and updates

Truck makers gear up for supplies to coal blocks

Truck makers are lining up new models and expanding production capacity to tap the coal sector after last month’s passage of the legislation that opened the doors to commercial mining and set the stage for the next auction of coal fields.
All truck makers in the value chain—ranging from those that manufacture high-powered trucks that go deep into the mines to the ones that build vehicles to ferry coal from the pithead to processing units— expect to benefit from the development.
The niche coal-mining segment, which deploys technologically-advanced vehicles with a high power-to-weight ratio, is dominated by the local arms of European truck makers Scania AB, Daimler AG and Volvo AB.
The local arm of Scania, a Swedish truck and bus maker, plans to double investment in its India operations to Rs.600 crore by 2020, Anders Grundströmer, managing director at Scania Commercial Vehicles India Pvt. Ltd, said in an interview on 28 April. Among other things, the fresh capital infusion would be utilized for doubling production of premium trucks deployed for mining and other applications to 5,000 units, he said. This would also back the company’s plans to enter the haulage segment, which is dominated by Tata Motors Ltd and Ashok Leyland Ltd.
Last month, Parliament approved the Coal Mines (Special Provision) Bill, 2015, allowing for the next round of auctions and containing an enabling provision for commercial mining. Two rounds of coal block auctions have already fetched the government Rs.2.09 trillion from 33 blocks. The coal ministry plans to auction or allocate 101 of 204 coal blocks that were cancelled by the Supreme Court in September.
Daimler plans to introduce the BharatBenz 3143 for the mining application next month. Designed for the Indian mining sector, the model, a spokesperson said, will be locally made and sold in India, targeting the niche deep-mining segment.
“The 3143 will be a natural progression towards high-powered, cost-efficient mining trucks that will bridge the gap in the industry that currently offers premium trucks and trucks that are under-powered,” said the spokesperson.
Ashok Leyland plans to launch six new truck models, which would include a tractor trailer and a tipper, said Rajive Saharia, president - trucks, at the company. The company is also forging ties with vehicle-body builders to offer vehicles with special applications for sectors such as mines, Saharia said.
Though a bulk of the coal mined in India is transported by rail, trucks are needed to transport the fuel over shorter distances, he said.
A spokesperson at market leader Tata Motors said the company has seen the demand for tippers going up lately.
Earlier this month, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd, a joint venture between Eicher Motors Ltd and Volvo, launched the Eicher Pro 6000 Series. These include haulage and tipper trucks. With the new range, Eicher is eyeing a bigger share of the heavy-duty truck market. It is looking to increase its share to 15% from 10%, A.K. Birla, executive vice-president, sales, marketing and aftermarket, at VE Commercial Vehicles, said at the Mumbai launch on 22 April.
“Owing to a ban on the mining sector, tippers have seen a sharp decline over the last couple of years. Therefore, a pickup in the construction sector and coal mining activities will definitely spur volumes,” said Subrata Ray, an analyst at ICRA Research.
One in every five medium- and heavy-duty truck sold is a tipper and close to a fourth of them are sold in the mining segment, said Ray.
Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles expanded 21% to 195,918 units in the fiscal year 2014-15, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. ICRA estimates the segment to grow 12% to 14% in fiscal 2015-16.
Experts said the move to open up the coal sector will change truck market dynamics. “Companies (truck manufacturers) will have to work harder to meet the requirements,” said S.P. Singh, senior fellow at the Delhi-based Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training
Unlike earlier, when fleet operators were simply asked to supply vehicles, this time around, the tenders floated by companies that have won coal blocks are detailed and mention a lot of specifications for manufacturers to meet, he said.

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