Nearly 2,000 heavy electric trucks could be operating on Indian roads by the end of FY27 as cement makers, ports and logistics companies accelerate fleet electrification, according to an analysis of publicly disclosed deployment plans and industry data compiled by businessline.
UltraTech Cement became the latest large industrial user to scale up, announcing on Wednesday that it plans to operate more than 600 heavy-duty electric trucks by December 2026.
Together with targets from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), Wonder Cement, JK Cement, Dalmia Bharat and TVS Vehicle Mobility Solutions (TVS VMS), the identified pipeline approaches 2,000 trucks by March 2027, against fewer than 250 currently tied to confirmed deployments or flag-offs in publicly identified fleets.
MARKET STARTS ACCELERATING
India registered 821 N3 electric trucks during January-July 2026, five times the year-earlier number, with July registrations jumping to 208 from 17, according to Vahan data.
OEM order books point to further growth. Tata Motors has disclosed around 900 electric-truck orders across segments, Montra Electric’s parent billed 86 large trucks in the June quarter, while Ashok Leyland has a 180-vehicle order from BillionE covering intermediate and heavy trucks.
The higher upfront cost remains a hurdle. Heavy electric trucks can cost ₹80 lakh to ₹1.1 crore against roughly ₹30 lakh to ₹60 lakh for diesel equivalents, creating a role for leasing and fleet-management platforms.
Drivn, Tata Motors and SwitchLabs have an initial 150-truck agreement, with plans to scale beyond 1,000 vehicles over two years. Drivn also has programmes with BillionE and AVG Logistics. These platform orders are excluded from the corporate-fleet tally to avoid double counting.
INDUSTRIAL FLEETS GATHER SCALE
UltraTech expects its trucks to transport around five million tonnes of clinker and other materials annually across seven states, cutting net CO₂ emissions by more than 117,000 tonnes and displacing about 39 million litres of diesel a year.
It has signed service contracts with Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, IPLTech, Energy in Motion and Sany, along with their subsidiaries and third-party logistics providers, for the deployment.
JNPA plans to electrify 90% of its roughly 600-truck internal fleet, or about 540 vehicles, by December 2026, after flagging off 50 battery-swappable trucks last year.
Wonder Cement has announced around 250 Montra trucks on a 1,450-km network connecting Nimbahera with Dahej and Tuna ports. JK Cement has started with 20 trucks and plans more than 150 during FY27.
TVS VMS has flagged off 57 Montra trucks on a Chhattisgarh freight route and is targeting more than 300 during the year, while Dalmia Bharat plans to increase its initial 15-truck deployment in Assam by another 45.
Diesel trucks account for only around 3% of India’s vehicle population but contribute 42% of transport-related greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the Ministry of Heavy Industries, making high-mileage industrial routes an early target for electrification.
EXECUTION IS THE TEST
The jump from fewer than 250 publicly identifiable deployments and flag-offs to nearly 2,000 trucks would mark India’s first significant move towards industrial-scale electric trucking.
The test now is how many enter sustained commercial operation at full payload and high utilisation, generating enough fuel savings to overcome their substantially higher upfront cost..
Dalmia Bharat’s first 15 electric trucks in Assam are expected to be followed by another 45 OEM order books point to further growth.