HZL will invest more than $1 billion to switch to battery-powered mining vehicles and become a green energy user

The second-largest producer of zinc in the world, Hindustan Zinc (HZL), a member of the Vedanta group, plans to invest more than $1 billion (about Rs. 8,270 crores) over the next five years to switch all of its diesel-powered mining vehicles to batteries and become a wholly green energy consumer.

The Udaipur-based company, which is also the country’s top producer of zinc and lead as well as the only producer of silver, is already operating four of its 900 mining vehicles on a battery as a pilot project.

Despite growing concerns about a global recession, the company, which now produces 1 million tonnes of zinc annually, up from 1 lakh tonnes when it was privatised by the government in 2002, anticipates stable demand in the March quarter, according to its chief executive Arun Misra, who spoke to PTI over the weekend.

This news is written by Ms. Pujari Dharani, Research Assistant, All India Legal Forum.