Exide to invest Rs. 180 crore for capacity expansion

Kolkata, Jul 25: Industrial and automotive battery maker Exide Industries Ltd. plans to invest Rs 180 crore in the current fiscal to raise capacity by 20 per cent, Managing Director and Chief Executive T V Ramanathan said here today.

''We will invest Rs 1.8 billion this fiscal, out of which Rs 900 million will be invested in automotive segment and Rs 600 million to raise capacity by 20 per cent,'' he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting. He said despite the steep rise in the prices of lead, the principal raw material for battery manufacturing, the company had not increased the price of its products this year, though it did so last year.

Lead price has gone up by 52 per cent at 2,200 dollars per tonne this year.

''The company would examine the possibility of any price increase only if lead prices rise above 2,500 dollars per tonne,'' he said.

UNI