UltraTech Puts 45 Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks on Long-Haul Clinker Route

What happened:

UltraTech Cement has started running 45 electric heavy-duty trucks for long-haul clinker movement in northern India, with partner Energy In Motion, in a deployment reported by Construction World on 18 June 2026. The 55-tonne trucks cover roughly 250 km from the Kotputli plant in Rajasthan to grinding units at Dadri and Sikandarabad in Delhi-NCR, crossing Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. UltraTech calls it among the largest electric heavy-truck deployments in the cement sector in north India and says it will cut about 8,900 tonnes of CO2 and 2.9 million litres of diesel a year. The figures are company-stated.

What does electric haulage mean for fleet buyers?

This is a real-world test of long-haul electric trucking at 55-tonne payloads — the kind of data point fleet buyers and contractors have been short on. Across 45 trucks, the claimed 2.9 million litres of annual diesel displacement works out to roughly 64,000 litres per truck a year, which points to the fuel-cost gap electric can close on fixed, high-utilisation lanes. The economics look best on repeat, plant-to-plant routes with predictable charging — not scattered site work.

The hurdles are upfront cost and financing. Electric heavy trucks cost more to buy, and their resale and residual values are still unproven, so buyers should price in battery warranty, charging capex and how fixed the route really is before switching. Equipment-finance terms for EVs — tenure, loan-to-value, residual assumptions — are still settling, and that, more than the truck itself, often decides the monthly cost. For captive industrial users in cement, steel and aggregates with fixed lead distances, the case is strongest; for open-market hauliers and rental fleets, diesel and CNG likely stay the default near-term.

DesiMachines view: When a buyer this size runs an EV pilot, suppliers and financiers tend to follow, so the next few quarters could bring more electric options and clearer financing for heavy haulage on fixed routes — though diesel will likely keep dominating general earthmoving and site logistics for a while yet.