The Hindu Business Line : Base Corporation plans manufacturing unit

BASE Corporation Ltd (BSL), the Bangalore-based exclusive distributor of Panasonic batteries manufactured by Matsushita Electric Company Ltd, has indicated its plans to set up a manufacturing facility for the automotive battery. The company, however, did not give a firm timeframe for the proposal.

Indicating this here at a press conference, Mr Girish Arora, Managing Director of BSL, said such a proposal can fructify only when the company achieves a sales turnover over Rs 110 crore, which will be double the size of its current achievement.

Mr Arora, however, said the plan could take shape by next year as the rapid growth in the company's sales in the last 15 months has given an indication of the possibility. From a mere 15 batteries, the company has seen a growth in sales to 15,000 batteries per month in the last 15 months. This period also saw the company successfully developing an India-specific automotive battery after a joint research with Matsushita.

On Friday, the company announced the launch of maintenance-free battery, which with its unique Panasonic technology needs no frequent water topping as compared to the conventional battery available in the market.

The press conference was addressed by Mr Mitsuru Kurukowa, Managing Director of Matsushita and senior executives of the company.

Answering questions, Mr Kurukowa said India was an important market for the company and this was the reason, it has plans to expand its product line in the country.

Though plans to set up a production facility in India was still not firm, to make the range of products cheaper, the company has decided to source the batteries from its Sri Lanka plant. Earlier, it was sourcing the Panasonic batteries — UPS, automotive and cordless phones — from different production centres for India.

With the Sri Lanka plant, the products would become cheaper by 20 per cent as import from the SAARC member would enjoy a concessional duty rate.

Besides, the freight cost would also come down making Panasonic batteries more competitive, Mr Arora said.

Base Corporation has ambitious plans to expand its business by bringing the entire range of Panasonic batteries used apart from automotive sector to medical electronic equipment, cellular phone, and safety equipment used in airports.

It plans to increase its distribution network from 220 to more than 5000 by 2005 in the country.

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