Vedanta Aluminium, GEAR India Partner to Deploy One of India’s Largest Li-Ion Forklift Fleets

Aluminium giant Vedanta Aluminium Business has signed an agreement with GEAR (Gemini Equipment and Rentals Pvt Ltd) India, to deploy one of the largest fleets of lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery-powered electric forklifts at Vedanta’s Aluminium Smelter at Jharsuguda, Odisha.

Vedanta’s Jharsuguda Aluminium Smelter is one of the world’s largest single-location aluminium smelters.

With this move, the company has become the first in the Indian aluminium industry to undertake such an initiative.

Commenting on the partnership, Rahul Sharma, CEO – Aluminium Business, Vedanta Ltd, said, “Vedanta Aluminium is committed to achieving Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2050. Our partnership with GEAR to deploy one of India’s largest and most advanced electric forklift fleets, is in line with our endeavour towards leveraging the power of innovation and technology to make our operations future-ready. In addition to reducing carbon footprint, this initiative uses cloud computing to provide real-time analytics to enhance productivity and further bolster our people’s safety.”

Also, the company would commission 23 such forklifts in a phased manner over the next few months.

The company in a statement said that “substituting diesel-fuelled forklifts with this green fleet will reduce diesel consumption by more than 2.5 lakh litres annually, thereby ensuring GHG (greenhouse gas) emission savings of nearly 690 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.”

Vedanta Aluminium currently operates a large fleet of forklifts for finished goods handling, material movement, etc. The new lithium-ion forklifts will help maximise the productivity of operations by enabling longer working cycles via rapid charging.

These forklifts make use of ‘Smart Fleet Management’ system that uses IOT (Internet of Things) technology to integrate the data collected by intelligent terminals and provide Vedanta Aluminium insights on a real-time basis with respect to forklift speed, access to operate, collision avoidance, optimization analysis for operational efficiency and equipment maintenance, among others.
 
“Vedanta Aluminium’s endeavour to replace fossil-fuelled heavy vehicles with technologically-advanced lithium-ion forklifts at such a mammoth scale is a praiseworthy move. It is our privilege to be Vedanta’s partner in this pioneering venture, which will go a long way towards decarbonizing their industrial vehicle fleet. This will serve as an inspiration for the Indian manufacturing industry to explore emerging technology solutions for achieving their Net Zero vision,” said Varun Chopra, Executive Chairman of GEAR India.