Exide industries look for opportunity for foreign acquisition

Kolkata, Aug 27 (UNI) Exide Industries Limited, India's largest manufacturer of batteries with annual turnover of about Rs 2,000 crores, is now busy looking for an opportunity to acquire a modern factory in Europe to make further dent in overseas market.

"We are very actively scouting to acquire the management control of a running medium sized battery manufacturing unit either in Germany or Switzerland for the past few months and have even identifed a few for serious negotiations", said Mr S B Ganguly, Chairman cum Chief Executive Officer of the Exide Industries.

Speaking to UNI after the conclusion of the foundation laying programme of the Rs 60 crore expansion of Exides' unit at the port city of Haldia, about 150 km from here, yesterday, Mr Ganguly said following the proposed acquisition of any one of these companies Exide would be able to improve its foothold in the fast expanding European and even Latin American markets for supply of industrial and different kinds of specialised batteries.

He said though at present Exide Industries, with its nine production units in the country, had been able to satisfy the diverse need of their overseas buyers in as many as 12 countries across the globe, in the event of increased demand it would be difficult to maintain the trend.

However, Mr Ganguly refused to disclose either the name of any of the prospected foreign partners or the amount earmarked for their outright purchase of assests and management control, by only saying that the "negotiatias with some of them are still in preliminary stages".

Regarding his expansion programme within the country, Mr Ganguly said during the current fiscal they planned to spend a total amount of Rs 120 crores including Rs 60 crores for the Haldia plant and Rs 30 crores for the Exide's Pune unit which specialised in manufacturing car and truck batteries.

The new unit at Haldia, when completed by 2008 on nine acres of land at a cost of Rs 60 crores, would be an exclusive Export Oriented Unit for the production of fork-lifted traction battery for industrial purposes and exclusivelty for overseas buyers, the Exide Chairman informed.

He said initially the plant would produce 30,000 traction batteries per annum, but later on the capacity would be gradually raised to one million unit per annum in accordance with the increase of overseas demand. Incidentally, Exide presently supply its products to 12 countries, including the U.K, Australia, China, Japan, Germany, France, Singapore, South Korea and the Phillipines.

As far as the requirement of human resources were concerned, the proposed unit would provide direct employment to 500 people with another about 2,000 people remaining associated with it indirectly from the beginning, Mr Ganguly emphasised.

Asked about Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee's suggestion to start manufacturing of "noiseless batteries" for countryboats, launches and other modes of water transport to attract more tourists in the Sunderbans biosphere reserve and in the river tourism through the Ganges, the Exide Chief claimed that they had already developed a similar battery which were now fitted in some of the tourist boats in the Kerala backwaters as part of year long pilot programme.

"Since the Chief minister has evinced keen interest, we can implement similar pilot projects in the Sunderbans and in the Ganges for their proper utilisation in future", he said.

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