Hindustan Zinc (HZL) is planning to invest over $1 billion (around Rs 8,270 crore) to convert its diesel-fired mining vehicles into battery-operated ones and also to fully turn a green energy user, over the next five years.
The Udaipur-based company, which is also the sole manufacturer of silver and the largest maker of zinc and lead in the country, is already running four of its 900 mining vehicles on battery on a pilot basis.
The company with an annual production of 1 million tonne zinc, up from 1 lakh tonne when it was privatized by the government in 2002, also expects stable demand in the March quarter despite the growing fears of a global recession.
Hindustan Zinc, the world’s second biggest zinc producer, operates the world’s third largest open-pit mine, and world’s largest Zinc Mine in Rampura Agucha, Rajasthan.
