Following its announced order last year from national coal mining giant Coal India Ltd (CIL) for the supply of seven BH150E 150 ton (136 t) trucks and eight BH205E 205 ton (186 t) trucks, the first BH205E unit was recently handed over to the customer, CIL-owned Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) on the company’s 58th Foundation Day, May 11. The electric drive truck is India’s largest indigenous Atmanirbhar (translated self-reliant India) dumper, a source of great pride for BEML and its R&D, production and marketing teams.

The BH205E is offered with either a Tier 2 MTU 12V4000C23 or Tier 2 Cummins QSK60C engine, both 1,716 kW, with Wabtec 5GTA41H (MTU) or 5GTA41 (Cummins) AC drive. It has a maximum speed of 65 km/h. BEML says the truck has a high power to weight ratio gives ample reserve power for increased engine life. “More target area, higher volumetric capacity and a low loading height ensures high productivity.”

There is no doubt that the demand for larger mining trucks in India is increasing rapidly, especially for coal overburden haulage, as the industry looks to increase efficiency. Traditionally the industry has used 100 ton class rigid trucks and large numbers of wide body tipper trucks of smaller capacity but is now investing in much larger classes of hauler. These are not just being sourced from BEML – Caterpillar has now sold significant numbers of 190 t 789D trucks into India, including over 50 to NCL alone; whle BELAZ recently confirmed an order for the supply of 96 240 t 7531 mining trucks which will be used in CIL’s South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) division.