The Hindu Business Line : Tata Green to set up Rs 70-cr 2-wheeler battery line

Growing demand
The demand for two-wheeler batteries has grown significantly, and it is no longer merely an add-on but a necessary offering with new bikes.

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, March 12 After rolling out over 25 products in less than a year since the company began production, Tata Green Batteries, part of Tata Autocomp GY Batteries, is planning a Rs 70-crore manufacturing plant for two-wheeler batteries.

“The demand for two-wheeler batteries has grown significantly, and it is no longer merely an add-on but a necessary offering with new bikes. Even though we do not have this in the current assembly line, we are importing and offering this in India,” Mr Rajeev Mallik, Head, Marketing, told Business Line.

“We are in the process of finalising plans for a Rs 70-crore unit to manufacture two-wheeler batteries. The plant is likely to have capability to manufacture both VRLA and Electrolite batteries, currently in demand from original equipment manufacturers and the replacement business,” he said.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr Mallik said, “The company has invested Rs 100 crore in manufacturing plant near Pune with a capacity of 2 million units per annum. This is currently producing about 5 lakh batteries and is expected to go up to 1 million by next year and 2 million by 2010-2011.”

The company has completed the entire range of automotive batteries in just one year of operations. To this the company has added inverter batteries and two-wheeler batteries, the latter through exports from Thailand.

“One of the challenges during the first year of operation was to supply to OEMs and this cannot be achieved unless we have a national distribution network. By creating a network and also entering into a tie-up with Tata Motors’ dealers, we now have pan-India presence and expect to strike more OEM deals,” he said.