HZL to spend over $1 bn in shift to turn into a green energy user

The Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc (HZL), which is the world's second-largest manufacturer of the metal, is planning to invest over USD 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, its chief executive Arun Misra told PTI over the weekend.

The government still owns 29 per cent in the cash-rich HZL and has three board members as well. On this, Misra said he recently met the government officials in New Delhi and the full ...