CIL ordered the 240-tonne dumper trucks for its South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) subsidiary. SECL plans to deploy 84 at its Gevra project and the remaining 12 in Kusmunda project, both in Chhattisgarh state in central India.

"This move is in line with improving our production and productivity in opencast mines," an unnamed senior CIL executive told the Press Trust of India.

The deal covers the cost of spares for eight years, including a one-year warranty period.

A first batch of six dumper trucks will be in use within eight months, said CIL, with the additions bringing the SECL fleet of 240t dumpers to 116 at Gevra, and 32 in Kusmunda.

CIL signed two purchase orders in April for seven 150t dumper trucks and eight 190t vehicles from domestic supplier BEML.