Amara Raja's hi-tech automotive battery plant

By S. Raghuraman

CHENNAI, SEPT. 25. Amara Raja Batteries has established an exclusive high-tech automotive plant at Karakambadi village, near Tirupati. The plant, set up with the technology of its U. S. partner, Johnson Control in an area of two lakh sq. ft., would set global standards for the automotive products. It will enable the company to competitively compete in the world market in terms of quality and prices. Amara Raja can now enter in a big way to market the SLI (start light ignition) automotive batteries in Europe and Southeast Asian countries, according to Mr. Ramachandra N. Galla, Chairman and Managing Director.

The automation of manufacturing facilities and the upgradation in the process line would enable the company to produce high performance and long shelf life batteries for new vehicles as per JIS (Japanese international standards) and SAE (Society of Automobile Engineers)standards. The present automotive battery requirement in European countries alone would be around five million, Mr. Galla said.

The new plant, set up at a cost of Rs. 45 crores in the first phase, will have a capability to produce one million automotive batteries annually. The cost of expansion in the first phase was met mainly out of internal sources.

The company plans to enhance further the capacity to two million units in two years costing Rs. 25-30 crores by adding balancing equipment. The existing VRLA (valve regulated lead acid) industrial battery plant has a capability to produce five lakh batteries annually.

Presspersons were taken around the plant on Monday. The Tirupati complex now has an integrated manufacturing facility to produce all critical components. The new plant has facility to mould plastics for making battery shell and valves out of granules bought from Reliance and IPCL. It will also be importing granules from Korea. This would enable the company to have complete control over inventories and product quality.

Asked about the need to expand further the capacity in a big way, when the capacity utilisation of the existing plant was 60 per cent, Mr. Jayadev Galla, Executive Director, said that on the industrial battery segment, the demand was only moderate. With the creation of hi-tech facility in collaboration with Johnson Controls, he claimed that the company would now emerge as the lowest cost producer of VRLA batteries.

The company identified UPS segment as another thrust area. To exploit this segment, the company has planned upgrdation of the Kombat range. It is also identifying new opportunities in the power control sector.

The company had unveiled its new corporate identity at a ceremony that marked the inauguration of its new greenfield automotive battery plant in Tirupati by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The new logo is a yin and yang symbol in green and black.

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