Coal India starts project to replace diesel with LNG in dumpers

Coal India, the country's biggest coal miner, is retrofitting its diesel-engine trucks used in mines with liquefied natural gas (LNG) kits to cut its carbon footprint and save fuel costs

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd, the country's biggest coal miner, is retrofitting its diesel-engine trucks used in mines with liquefied natural gas (LNG) kits to cut its carbon footprint and save fuel costs, a government statement said on Wednesday.

India, a signatory to the Paris climate accord, wants to raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.2%.

Coal India has over 2,500 dumpers running in its opencast coal mines. Use of LNG will cut diesel consumption by 30%-40% and fuel costs by about 15%, the statement said.

The company spends over 35 billion rupees ($479 million) annually using about 400,000 kilolitres (335,600 tonnes) of diesel in the dumpers - big trucks that transport coal in mines, the statement said.

Initially, Coal India in partnership with gas importer GAIL (India) Ltd and engineering company BEML Ltd, will retrofit LNG kits in its two 100 tonne dumpers operating at the subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd.

 

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Mark Potter)