Kolkata: India’s largest storage battery maker Exide Industries is planning to start production of lithium-ion batteries from its joint venture plant in Gujarat by end of this calendar year.
Aiming at entering India’s electric vehicle (EV) market and grid-based applications, Exide had formed a 75:25 joint venture with Switzerland-based Leclanché SA, one of the world’s leading energy storage solution companies, in June last year. The JV company’s production plant in Gujarat is the first such indigenous facility in the country for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries and provide energy storage systems for the EV market, with the government’s push towards promoting electric mobility.
“It is inevitable that electric vehicles will come into India. Whether it will be three years or five years or ten years down the line,that can be debated. But we, as a company, want to be fully prepared to address this opportunity,” Exide Industries MD & CEO
Gautam Chatterjee told shareholders here during the company’s 72nd annual general meeting.
The JV company, which is planning three different assembly lines for three different types of products, will specifically target etransport and fleet vehicles, including e-buses, e-wheelers and e-rickshaws. “The Gujarat plant is going on full stream. It will start operation by end of this calendar year. Around Rs 100 crore has already been invested. Another Rs 100 crore will be pumped in within March next year,” Chatterjee said. Chatterjee said, adding the plant’s total capacity by end of March would be about 750 megawatt. “We are talking to the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for electric buses. Tata Motors is talking to us. We are tying up with Ashok Leyland,” he informed.
The battery major has announced over 14% year-on-year fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 161.6 crore for the first quarter this fiscal from Rs 188.60 crore for the same period last fiscal. The company’s revenue from operations grew by a meagre 3.1% y-o-y at Rs 3664.2 crore compared with Rs 3,553 crore for the corresponding period of FY19, it said in a stock exchange filing.
Source : timesofindia
