Chennai, Sep 29 (IANS): In a move to change to electric vehicles (EV) to move its cement JSW Cement has acquired five trucks from the Murugappa group and has begun trials.

According to JSW Cements, the pilot project – moving cement by electric trucks- is being done on the route of manufacturing operations in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

“JSW Cement has procured the current EV trucks from Murugappa Group. Upon successful completion of the pilot project, the Company aims to transition to EV trucks to support its in-bound and out-bound logistics operations across all the manufacturing units,” the cement company said.

Currently, JSW Cement’s carbon emission intensity is 173 kg/ton which is about 30 per cent of the global cement sector’s average of 590 kg/tonne.

From this pilot project, it is expected to avoid more than 150 ton of carbon emissions which is equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed annually by 6,000 trees.

JSW Cement currently has a capacity of 19 million ton per annum in India. It plans to add 2 million ton during this calendar year (2023) with a medium-term plan of achieving 60 million ton capacity in the next five years.

During this period, the company is expected to make significant investments in various interventions to reduce its carbon emissions.

Nilesh Narwekar, Chief Executive Officer of JSW Cement said: “The EV Trucks pilot project, currently on between our manufacturing operations in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is an important milestone in making our future much greener and more purposeful. Based on the success of these pilot trials, we will scale-up the integration of these EV Trucks across our cement operations in India.”