Mumbai: UltraTech Cement Limited will expand its logistics fleet to more than 600 heavy-duty electric trucks by December 2026, a move the company says could reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by over 117,000 tonnes annually while replacing the equivalent of 39 million litres of diesel each year.
The Aditya Birla Group company has signed service contracts with EV prime mover manufacturers including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, IPLTech, Energy in Motion and Sany, along with their subsidiaries and third-party logistics providers, for the deployment of the electric trucks.
Once fully operational, the fleet will transport about five million metric tonnes of clinker and other key materials every year across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha.
For a cement logistics network where heavy trucks routinely cover long distances carrying substantial loads, replacing diesel is not exactly a lightweight exercise. UltraTech’s latest expansion therefore marks a significant step in extending industrial electrification beyond factory premises and into freight movement.
K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said, “UltraTech is expanding sustainability beyond its plants by adopting greener logistics solutions. This large-scale transition to green logistics underscores our focus on decarbonising every link of our value chain and supports our commitment to achieving Net Zero.”
UltraTech said its electrification strategy covers multiple stages of the supply chain, including movement from mines to manufacturing plants as well as inter-plant transportation of clinker and other materials.
The company currently operates more than 850 trucks under its green logistics programme, including compressed natural gas and electric vehicles.
UltraTech began introducing CNG-powered trucks into its logistics network in 2021 and deployed electric trucks in 2024. The company said it was among the early cement manufacturers in India to introduce green logistics and to use heavy-duty electric trucks for long-haul movement of clinker and other materials at scale.
The transition is particularly significant given the size of UltraTech’s operations. The company has more than 200 million tonnes per annum of grey cement capacity in India and operates a wide-ranging logistics network connecting mines, manufacturing facilities and material movement routes across multiple states.
Heavy-duty road freight remains one of the more challenging areas to decarbonise because of vehicle weight, range requirements, charging infrastructure and demanding operating cycles. Large-scale adoption by industrial users such as cement manufacturers could therefore play an important role in testing how electric trucks perform under intensive commercial conditions.
UltraTech’s planned 600-plus electric truck fleet reflects a broader shift in industrial logistics towards lower-emission transportation. If the projected fuel displacement and emissions savings are achieved at scale, the programme could also provide a useful benchmark for electrification in other freight-intensive sectors.
