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State-owned Coal India Ltd on Wednesday said it has awarded a ₹2,900 crore contract to Belarus-based mining equipment manufacturer Belaz for supply of 96 dumpers of 240-tonnes capacity.
The purchase package includes the cost of the dumpers and spares for eight years, including the one-year warranty period.
The amount for the purchase of the dumpers would be met out of the company’s own finances, a company statement said.
Dumpers are primarily used in opencast mines and aid in the transport of bulk materials like over burden, which is an important performance criterion.
“Coal India Limited (CIL), for purchase of 96 dumpers of 240-tonnes capacity, has issued a letter of award of ₹2,900 crores to Belaz,” the PSU said in statement adding that CIL is endeavouring to ramp up its production and productivity and modernising its equipment is a step in that direction.
The Maharatna company’s board has given its nod to close the deal.
“This move is in line with improving our production and productivity in opencast mines,” a senior company executive said. Belaz bagged the contract through a global tender process.
The first batch of six dumpers would start rolling in within eight months of signing of the contract.
The latest addition of these 96 dumpers to CIL’s heavy earth moving machinery fleet would be deployed in South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) taking the total tally of its 240-tonnes dumpers to 162, with 66 previously in operation.
It said that 84 of the 96 dumpers would be put into operation in the Gevra project and the remaining 12 in Kusmunda project in Chhattisgarh. Both are mega opencast projects of SECL.
“Once deployed, Gevra’s count of 240-tonnes dumpers would swell to 116, with 32 already existing. The number would go up to 32 in Kusmunda with 20 currently operational,” the company said.
Laying emphasis on modernisation and replacement of its aging equipment, CIL has earlier procured 77 dumpers of 150-tonnes capacity from Belaz for Gevra project.
SECL, is the largest coal producing subsidiary of CIL which contributed to 25 per cent of CIL’s total coal output of 602 million tonnes in 2019-20.
Close to 61 per cent of SECL’s total coal production is derived through opencast mines where the dumpers play a productive role.
Incidentally, SECL also contributed to 47 per cent of CIL’s total underground production during 2019-20.
Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.
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