TATA AUTOCOMP -GS YUASA: GREEN BATTERIES

The 50: 50 joint venture (TGY: Tata AutoComp GY Batteries) between Tata AutoComp and GS Yuasa (Japan) that was inked in February 2007 has now achieved a landmark of sorts. The company, which has set up a facility in Ranjangaon to manufacture Calcium-Calcium/ low antimony hybrid batteries, has in one year managed to introduce a comprehensive range of automotive and inverter batteries that caters to all ranges of vehicles from two wheelers to trucks. This is an industry first.

The batteries, which come backed with GS YUASA's expertise in the field, will be available as aftermarket replacements, but the company is also keen on capitalizing on the OEM space and hope to cater to all major automobile clients in the coming years.

Incidentally, TGY is already thinking about expansion. Beginning with 0.5 million units, the company is now increasing production to 1 million units per annum for financial year 2008-09. The company hopes to double this to 2 million units per annum by 2010-11 and also attain a 10 per cent market share in the organized market sphere. The investment at Ranjangaon so far has been to the tune of Rs. 60 Crore and a further Rs. 40 Crore will be invested in order to achieve the above said production targets. An additional Rs 25 Crore will be invested when the company decides to put in place the manufacturing process for two wheeler batteries. Right now the two wheeler batteries are coming in from Thailand, where GS YUASA already has a plant.

According to Mr. Raman Nanda, Director,. Tata AutoComp GY Batteries, "We are pleased to live up to the expectation of our customers and are taking this responsibility very seriously. Our batteries, marketed under the 'Tata Green' brand name are the least polluting products in the market. Despite the new technology employed, we are still able to offer the product range cheaper than the competition. The superior Japanese technology is backed by a robust sales and service network, which we hope to expand in the coming years."