India’s bulk mining sector is booming, especially in thermal coal and iron ore. But the mines themselves need to increase productivity and efficiency, particularly in the coal sector where demand from utilities is surging. As a result, more and more Indian mines are now investing in much larger classes of equipment – beyond the traditional 100 ton class rigid trucks, wide body trucks, and small to mid-class excavators and shovels.

Tata Hitachi is now playing its part in this trend, recently deploying the first ever large Hitachi rigid mining trucks in the country. The company said that the delivery, to Coal India company Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL)’s Singrauli operations in Madhya Pradesh, marks a significant achievement in its commitment to excellence and efficiency in the Indian mining sector.

IM spoke to Rishi Raj Kishore, Tata Hitachi Head of Govt & Institutional Mining Equipment Sales. He said that as NCL is a Coal India company, it selects equipment firmly on the basis of the lowest owning and operating cost and in this class of trucks, Tata Hitachi came out on top in the tender process with the 181 t class EH3500AC-3.

So far the contract with NCL covers five EH3500AC-3 units, all of which have already been delivered. They will match with 20 m3 rope shovels already commissioned at the Singrauli mines. Kishore added: “We see a lot of additional potential for Hitachi mining trucks in India having Hitachi’s proven AC drive as well as a number of other features that make them well suited to the market here.” The trucks were manufactured at Hitachi’s main home factory, the Hitachinaka-Rinko Works in Japan.

The valuable features that enable the trucks to deal with challenging conditions include the the Hitachi Drive Control System, which reduces tyre slippage on acceleration and tyre lock-up during braking, and prevents chassis oscillation in a front-rear direction and tyre skid while steering.

The AC drive system itself has a high load-responsive IGBT inverter, with drive control software that was jointly developed with other Hitachi Group companies, to achieve a system that excels in controlling travel motor speed and torque. Whether taking off from a standstill, ascending grades, or performing steering manoeuvres, the system delivers an optimal, individual amount of power to each of the travel motors for smooth, quick operation.