The big battery league: India’s top 10 battery manufacturers

By Shweta Sengar

May 19, 2015: The battery market in India is experiencing growing demand from multiple sectors. Apart from conventional demand from manufacturing industries, the digital and telecom boom has generated demand for batteries for power storage equipment. The growth of the battery market is also driven by the increasing demand from sectors like banking, hospitality, transportation and other industrial applications. Besides, the boom in the solar sector has added extra impetus to this industry. With all these factors combined, the Indian battery market is expected to remain bullish in the coming years.

With the introduction of electric vehicles, this sector may move towards lithium ion and fuel cell technologies.

Electronics Bazaar has made an attempt to rank the top battery manufacturers in India on the basis of their revenues for FY 2013-14. However, there is not much variation in the rankings of the companies compared to their positions in the previous year. Maintaining its top position in this survey, Exide Industries is leading the market, followed by Amara Raja and HBL.

In the present market scenario, most companies are into multiple verticals in the power storage systems, and file consolidated revenues; so it was a challenge to procure a firm’s revenue figures earned from its battery business alone. Hence, the revenues of battery manufacturers here include their earnings from other verticals, too, and not just the battery business.

Disclaimer: While Electronics Bazaar’s editorial team has taken the utmost care to contact all possible sources to make the list comprehensive, we may have inadvertently left out a few companies. Information contained in the following report has been obtained from sources deemed reliable, and Electronics Bazaar makes no claims with respect to its accuracy. Neither Electronics Bazaar nor its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, owners, representatives nor any of its data or content providers shall be liable for any errors or for any actions taken by any entity on the basis of this information.

Exide Industries Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 59,972.70 million

T.V. Ramanathan, MD and CEO

Incorporated as Associated Battery Makers (Eastern) Ltd in 1947, the company was renamed Chloride Electric Storage Co (India) Ltd, and eventually changed to Exide Industries in 1995. The company manufactures a wide range of storage batteries—from 2.5Ah to 20,400Ah—covering various technology configurations and a broad spectrum of applications.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Three in Maharashtra, two in West Bengal, one in Tamil Nadu and one in Haryana

Established in: 1947

Manufactures: VRLA, conventional lead acid and tubular batteries

Sectors it caters to: Railways, telecom, power, solar, automotive and other industrial segments such as UPS systems, inverters and traction batteries

Contact details: Ph: 033-22832120/33/36/50, www.exideindustries.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 38,041.27 million

Jayadev Galla, MD

Amara Raja Batteries, a JV with Johnson Controls Inc (JCI), USA, claims to be the largest manufacturer of VRLA standby batteries in the Indian Ocean rim. It boasts of one of the best manufacturing facilities in MEA and APAC, and its facilities are certified for ISO 9001, 14001, 18001 and TS 16949. It is one of the largest manufacturers of lead acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Tirupathi / Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Established in: 1985

Manufactures: Lead acid and VRLA batteries

Sectors it caters to: Automotive, railways, telecom, solar and power

Contact details: Ph: +91-40-2368-3000, [email protected], www.amararaja.co.in

———————————————————————————————————-

HBL Power Systems Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 12,908.08 million

Avnish Arora, vice president sales

HBL Power Systems Ltd is a listed Indian company with a focus on engineered products and services. The first product that it successfully developed was an aircraft battery, eventually leading to HBL offering a wide range of specialised batteries. It manufactures custom designed, high-quality, cost-effective DC power systems and a wide variety of batteries to meet the needs of various core industries.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Seven units in Shameerpet, Nandigaon, Thumukunta, Mahabubnagar, Vizayanagaram, VSEZ and Haridwar

Established in: 1977

Manufactures: Nickel cadmium pocket plate, fibre plate (FNC) and lead acid batteries

Sectors it caters to: Aviation, telecom, utility, railways, defence, solar and automotive

Contact details: Ph: +91 40-23355575, +91 40-23355085, [email protected], www.hbl.in

———————————————————————————————————-

Base Corporation Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` Rs 11,034 million

Aditya Arora, COO

Base Corporation Limited is a leading lead acid battery manufacturer in India, which specialises in advanced automotive, industrial and standby power solutions. Founded in 1987, it is headquartered at Bengaluru with international offices in China and Dubai. Base Batteries is a TS16949, ISO-9001, and ISO-14001 certified company. It has a strong workforce of over 1,600 employees working in 30 offices across the country.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Solan and Hosur

Established in: 1987

Manufactures: VRLA batteries

Sectors it caters to: Telecom, railways, utility and hospitality industries

Contact details: Ph: 91-080-41635909, 40621900, [email protected], www.basebatteries.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Okaya Power Pvt Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 6000.00 million

Rajesh Gupta, director

Okaya is among the fastest growing battery brands in India with an installation base of more than 5 million batteries, and a nationwide network of more than 40,000 dealers, 1400+ distributors, 41 branch offices and nine plants. Besides having a world-class manufacturing unit, it also has battery life testing equipments which give the company an edge in maintaining high standards in quality.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Nine in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh

Established in: 2002

Manufactures: VRLA gel and solar tubular batteries, generator-specific batteries, inverter batteries, etc

Sectors it caters to: Telecom, railways, PSUs, solar power and the hospitality industries

Contact details: Ph: +91-11-49803300, [email protected], www.okayapowerltd.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 5237.70 million

Kunwer Sachdev, founder and MD

Su-Kam Power Systems operates across India and in over 70 countries worldwide. Su-Kam develops intelligent power backup solutions as its power bank series of batteries is specially designed for optimum performance, long life and high reliability. These are eminently suitable for a wide range of applications. Its state-of-art manufacturing facility was established in 2007. It manufactures 70,000 batteries every month.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Seven in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and Gurgaon

Established in: 1998

Manufactures: SMF, lead acid, automotive and tubular batteries

Sectors it caters to: Automotive, railways, telecom, core industries and the state-run utilities

Contact details: Ph: +91-124-4030700, 4170500, [email protected], www.su-kam.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Southern Batteries Pvt Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 2390.35 million

R. Sreenivas, managing director

The company manufactures batteries that range from 20Ah to 2000Ah in 2V cells, and 20Ah to 240Ah in the 12V mono-block PP/HR, 10V, 8V and 6V cells. The company has now forayed into the retail market segment and has a nationwide presence through a network of branch offices and channel partners. It has set up another manufacturing facility in Jigani, Bengaluru and further expansion plans are in place.

Manufacturing facilities located in: Three units in Bengaluru

Established in: 1980

Manufactures: VRLA, automotive, tubular, flat plate and traction batteries

Sectors it caters to: Solar, railways, telecommunication, UPS systems and inverters

Contact details: Ph: 91-80-22010000 to 22010099, [email protected], www.southernbatteries.com

———————————————————————————————————-

True Power International Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` Rs 630.00 million

Ravi Mundra, managing director

True Power is a key manufacturer of power products, particularly in the field of power electronics (inverters and UPS systems). The company has worked towards technology advancement through innovative ideas and a wide product range and has, thereby, established new benchmarks within the industry. The company’s extensive use of R&D, innovation and sophisticated technology is what helps it in delivering the best.

Manufacturing facility located in: Parwanoo

Established in: 1993

Manufactures: Lead acid and SMF batteries

Sectors it caters to: Industrial, hospitality, telecom, etc

Contact details: Ph: +91-11-2783-3603, 2783-360, [email protected], www.truepower.in

———————————————————————————————————-

Fusion Power Systems

Annual revenue (2013-14): ` 290.00 million

Kapil Sood, managing director

Fusion Power Systems is engaged in the development and supply of rechargeable sealed lead acid batteries, which are sold under its brand name, Amptek. It has also set up state-of-the-art battery testing facilities using advanced testing equipment and excellent quality testing procedures. The company has nationwide sales, service and distribution capabilities, providing state-of-art batteries to its customers.

Manufacturing facility located in: Gurgaon

Established in: 2005

Manufactures: SMF industrial batteries, SMF e-bike batteries, SMF motorcycle batteries and Li-ion batteries

Sectors it caters to: UPS systems, automotive, telecommunications, solar, etc

Contact details: Ph: +91-11-49495200, [email protected], www.amptekbatteries.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Artheon Electronics Ltd

Annual revenue (2013-14): Revenue withheld

Sunil Bhatnagar, director, marketing

Artheon Electronics is one of the flagship companies of Artheon Group engaged in the field of manufacturing and distributing SMF-VRLA batteries and solar LMLA tubular batteries. It has a well equipped manufacturing and testing facility for SMF-VRLA batteries. Artheon plant is ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14001-2004, and the products are in accordance and certified to the standards of-JIS C 8702, Pt-I, II, III through ERTL(N), ETDC, MNRE, etc.

Manufacturing facility located in: Nasik

Established in: 1985

Manufactures: SMF batteries

Sectors it caters to: Solar, telecom, UPS systems and inverters, automation, etc

Contact details: Ph: +91-11-40618908, 43015111, [email protected], www.artheonelec.com

———————————————————————————————————-

Other leading players

Computech Systems (iPower)

Gem Batteries

Greenvision Technologies Pvt Ltd (Rellicell)

Luminous Power Technologies Pvt Ltd

Tudor India Ltd

(The companies are listed alphabetically)