Exide Industries Ltd will not take a stake of more than 26 percent in the smelter joint venture that it plans to set up with a Malaysian firm to comply with the government’s new battery handling rules.
Exide executive chairman and CEO SB Ganguly told reporters after the company’s 55th annual general meeting that the proposed plant will have an installed capacity of 20,000 metric tons a year and will be operative by the end of this year.
"We are not interested in owning majority share in the JV," Ganguly said.
Exide officials said the government’s new rules, aimed at checking pollution, require battery makers to take back used products from the market and recycle them.
However, smelters in India do not have the technology to recycle the materials into the quality that Exide requires to make its products.
This has prompted Exide to hold talks with Metal Reclamation (Industries) Sdn Bhd of Malaysia, officials said. MRI is the biggest smelter in Malaysia and operates a lead recycling facility.
According to Ganguly, the proposed tie-up had not been possible earlier as there is a shortage in scrap lead-acid batteries in India now.
"We are expecting the shortage to be over later this year which will facilitate setting up of this new smelter unit. The lead acid batteries will be sourced from across the country and the unit will initially function with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons a year," Ganguly said.
Exide will also finalize the merger of its subsidiary Chloride International Ltd with wholly owned subsidiary Exide Products Ltd. Financial Express