Ashok Leyland's Diesel & Hydrogen Engines and Diesel Exhaust Fluid Tank
Manufactured at the company’s state-of-the-art facilities, and adhering to global quality standards, Ashok Leyland’s H6 Engines continue to be the dominant choice for most OEMs for both track and wheel Harvester applications, reflecting its enduring reliability and efficiency. The H6 engines are also renowned for their lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Ashok Leyland’s H4 Diesel engine (74hp -130hp CEV Stage V) is a compact, continuous duty power rating, highly rugged and reliable. It offers enhanced productivity and low cost of ownership. The H6 Diesel engine (133hp -225hp CEV Stage V) is a global standard engine and the first choice among various OEMs of both track and wheel Harvester combines. The H6 Hydrogen (H2 ICE) engine, powered by hydrogen (a renewable and clean energy source), is similar to a conventional diesel-based combustion engine, thus helping quicker migration to cleaner energy sources at a relatively lower cost delta.
The company is offering the first of its kind engines for Off-highway applications, namely, the A6 diesel engine, that ensures maximum vehicle uptime and better P&T characteristics, while the CRS with electronic governance ensures high fuel efficiency, easy serviceability, lower life cycle cost, and reliability. The company’s 40 kVA Genset - CPCB4+ LEYPOWER offers global-standard, affordable diesel generators that meet the latest Indian (CPCB 4+) and international norms.
Amandeep Singh, President LCV, International Operations, Defence & Power Solutions, Ashok Leyland, said, “Our latest advancements that are adaptable for diverse applications further exemplify Ashok Leyland's engineering prowess which has positioned the company as a prominent player in the engine segment. We aim to further consolidate our leading position in this market segment with cutting-edge innovative engines.”
Shenu Agarwal, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland, added, “As the need for enhanced fuel efficiency rises and the integration of alternative fuels with diesel engines continues to grow, we present a comprehensive range of engine solutions that can be customized for various applications. We are committed to fostering self-reliance in India's engine segment and aspire to be at the forefront of the Make in India initiative.”

Ashok Leyland, a forerunner in introducing cutting-edge technologies, had demonstrated its futuristic vehicle range, powered by electric and hydrogen options, earlier this year. “The concept of hydrogen fuel engines is very new and its acceptance in the Indian market is still to be gauged. The acceptance will depend upon the ecosystem that builds around it. But we see a lot of companies putting a lot of money on the hydrogen side,” said Amandeep Singh.
“So, while EV will be one of the options for zero carbon, going forward, hydrogen will also be a very viable alternative, whether it is in the form of fuel cells or the ICE engine that we have gone ahead with and demonstrated. Technology has to be first demonstrated and then once the ecosystem gets built around it, then only will the cost come down, so, even if there is hydrogen availability, its cost would be prohibitive. Today, at $5 a kg, the customer's TCO viability is not going to be achieved, but going forward, when hydrogen facilities and the ecosystem are being set up, we believe that at $2.5 - $3 a kg, there will be some TCO / breakeven coming in for some of the applications. And there will be a lot of applications, for example, long distance trucks, for which electric battery electric may not be a viable solution, but where hydrogen can play its part.”
He informed that the onus of setting up the infrastructure or the ecosystem lies with the government as well as the private sector. “Though many big companies have announced their intentions to go for a hydrogen infrastructure, the government needs to provide the necessary, incentives and the policy framework. But the investments have to come from the construction industry as well as the private sector.”
“We’ve introduced a prototype of our hydrogen fuelled engine and are running a vehicle with it and another vehicle with the Reliance Group. Though many OEMs have evinced an interest in it, but it would take a few years for the engine to become commercially viable.”
“Ashok Leyland is operating with around 40 OEMs on the industrial side, with air compressors, reloaders or forklifts and has more than 40 customers. And now, with CV 5 coming in, more and more customers are approaching us because we have the product already ready since the automobile industry had moved to these norms three years back. We have BS Stage 6 for our automotives; for industrial we have the CEV 5 norms, and for Power Gen, we have CPCV norms.”
“We are meeting all the quality parameters and specifications equivalent to the international engines, including the emission norms and are in discussion with a lot of the OEMs. Some of the OEMs are operating in India and are fitting their machines with Ashok Leyland engines. Having used them for some years, they now have the confidence to take the Indian engine fitted equipment to other countries (thus exporting from India).

“Our new engines will definitely impact the productivity of the machines. With CV 5 and CPCV 4 coming in, the power to weight ratios have become better. We are going with higher power density; the number of nodes that we are offering has increased fuel efficiency, and hence the TCO for the customer will be better. Carbon emissions are much lesser now, depending upon the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system we are using to get to the emission norms.”
With years of experience, and a pan-India service network with 24x7 support, and in-house development capabilities, Ashok Leyland plans to expand product lines and expand its presence in the fast-increasing engine market. “Ashok Leyland has a brand presence across the country. As far as our power solution business is concerned, we are present in four segments: gensets (what we call power gen), the industrial application, construction equipment including agriculture (harvester, combines) and marine engines. As regards expansion, we are expanding the range of our Power Gen engines; we have taken it up to 650 KVA and on the lower side, from 15 KVA we've come down to 7 to 5KVA.”
“In the Industrial segment, we have around 55 applications across companies and are trying to expand the applications following discussions with our customers. An advantage that we have is our in-house engine, R&D, so, any specific requirement of a customer can be met by us relatively quicker than other companies. This gives our customers a lot of confidence. We are also the owner of all the IPRs for the engines that we have, which gives us a lot of flexibility.”
“In our PowerGen vertical, we have a market share of around 10% in the segments that we operate. With CPCV coming in our presence is going to increase, and we will have more opportunities coming in, in terms of the nodes that we offer and in terms of the KVA range that we cover. Our marketing strategy is going to focus on our PowerGen business to get the volumes higher, aided by our strong network of 130 dealers and 215 service points across India. Once CPCV 4 and 5 come in, there will be a requirement of trained mechanics. With our engines already in operation in the automotive industry, and more than two lakh engines already operating, we have a very big advantage with these new emission norms,” concluded Amandeep Singh.