Battery maker Exide Industries has planned to enter into a joint venture with Ceil Motive Power Pty Ltd of Australia. Exide has acquired 26% of the company to gear up for the export of traction batteries to Australia. The initial investment for the joint venture will not be less than A$1 million and is likely to go up to A$4 million.
TV Ramanathan, managing director and chief operating officer, said, ?The company is in the third position in the country and aims to be number one in the next two years.? Exide is also planning to buy 49% stake in its subsidiary, Caldyne Automatics Ltd, makers of high-end battery chargers, transformers and non-conventional energy systems. It already has 51% share in the company and will look at making it a 100% subsidiary, for which it got the approval of the board on Friday.
The company is also planning to increase battery prices by 7.5-10% across varieties in the wake of an increase in lead prices. There were two price revisions last year. ?We will make one price increase this year if the price of lead continues to rise like this,? Ramanathan said. Exide is targeting a volume growth of 25% this year. ?We are planning to produce 20 lakh batteries for two-wheelers and 70 lakh for four-wheelers in the current fiscal,? he said.