Monday, June 03, 2013: Panasonic Corp will establish a battery plant in India and aims to start operation by March 2015. The company is now on the look out for a suitable location for the plan. The batteries to be produced in the plant will cater to the automotive and backup power equipment sectors. This decision comes in the wake of Panasonic’s decision to boost its overseas market share in the automotive parts sector. Currently Panasonic ships batteries for the Indian car market from its plant in Thailand.
The lead-acid battery plant which the company plans to set up in India will be similar to the ones it has in Thailand and China, says a Panasonic press release. “In a big market (like India), we want to launch local production for the local market,” said Yoshi Yamada, the head of the company’s automotive and industrial systems business, in the press release. In India, Panasonic has its manufacturing units at Vadodara in Gujarat and Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh.