Eveready to set up Rs 60 cr battery plant

Chennai, Jun 29: Eveready Industries India Limited, the market leader in dry cell battery and flashlight, today announced the setting up of a new plant in Uttranchal to produce pencil batteries, involving an investment of Rs 60 crore.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Ravi Grover, Executive Vice President (Sales and Marketing) said that civil work was going on in full swing and the plant would be ready by March next year.

It would exclusively manufacture "Double A" pencil batteries, for which the machinery had already been brought, he said adding the plant would have a capacity to produce 1,700 million units a year.

Next year, the capacity would be stepped up to 2,000 million units, he added.

Stating that the size of dry cell battery market was 2.2 billion units, amounting to Rs 1,500 crore in value, Mr Grover said Eveready, during 2005-06, enjoyed 47.2 per cent market share and was aiming to achieve the 50 per cent magic figure next year.

He said the market was growing at eight to ten per cent and Eveready, which had registred a 12 per cent growth last year, was looking at maintaining the same growth rate in the coming years.

UNI