Exide takes controlling stake in Leadage Alloys

Mumbai, Jun 18 (UNI) South Asia's largest lead acid storage battery company Exide Industries today announced acquisition of 51 per cent stake in Leadage Alloys India Limited, a Lead smelting company located near Bangalore.

Earlier this month, the company's board had approved a maximum investment of up to Rs 35 crore for such an acquisition. The company had in October last year, acquired Tandon Metals Limited, another smelter and this is the second unit, for which it has taken controlling stakes. Lead constitutes approximately 70 per cent of the material cost of a battery and its price has been extremely volatile in the past three years.

''Our own lead smelting units will not only give us better self sufficiency in this critical raw material, but also help us in the long run, to have better control over recycling of used batteries that we buy back from the market, as part of regulatory framework for storage battery manufacture,'' said Mr T V Ramanathan, Managing Director and CEO of Exide Industries Ltd.

''This investment in our own smelters is not just a backward integration project for Exide. It is part of our commitment to the environment, whereby we will have better control over disposal of used batteries and plastics,'' said Mr P K Kataky, Director automotive of Exide Industries.

Exide has recently kicked off a nationwide green campaign towards consumer education for safe disposal of used batteries. The lead contained inside a storage battery can be hazardous, unless it is handled carefully and responsibly. The campaign will not only seek to directly educate storage battery customers, but also the general public at large, through posters, leaflets and print ads.

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