Currently, exports account for around 8 per cent of its total sales.
“There were some headwinds in the international market
due to overall geopolitical conflicts, which impacted the export demands (in
FY24). Nevertheless your company remained resolute in its commitment to drive
export growth. We have an export strategy in place,” Exide’s
Managing Director & CEO Mr. Avik Roy said while replying to
shareholders’ queries at the company’s annual general meeting. Roy said the company has a strategy to grow
its exports “as close as” 20 per cent of its total sales in the next few years.
According to the company’s latest annual report, in order to drive
exports, it focuses on increasing its footprints in Europe and America. “Exide
expects to start commercial production of the new AGM technology and
EFBM2-compliant batteries, which will soon be introduced in American and
European markets,” it said.
Exide is also
looking for new opportunities to export submarine batteries and is engaged in
active discussions with potential customers to supply them in this fiscal.
The company expects the first phase of the green-field 12-gigawatt
lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in Bengaluru to be completed by the end of
the current financial year as the project is progressing as per the timelines.
Exide invested ₹1,285 crore as equity investment into the Bengaluru
project last fiscal. He said demand for
lithium-ion batteries and storage solutions is gaining momentum in India,
and the company has been an “early mover” in the lithium-ion technology space
with a packs and module facility in Gujarat, which is currently operational.
The Gujarat facility became operational in 2022, providing innovative
products and solutions.