Exide Industries

Exide Industries Limited is an Indian multinational battery and energy-storage company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company is principally known for manufacturing lead-acid batteries for automotive, industrial, power-backup, infrastructure, transport, defence, and renewable-energy applications. Its portfolio serves original-equipment manufacturers, replacement markets, utilities, telecom operators, railways, data and information-technology facilities, mines, and household consumers. The business traces its Indian manufacturing history to 1947, when its first factory was established at Shyamnagar in West Bengal. It developed from an industrial battery assembler and manufacturer into a broad storage-battery group with production and commercial activities in India and overseas. A second major factory was opened at Chinchwad, Maharashtra, in 1969, positioning the company close to India’s growing automobile-manufacturing base. Exide subsequently expanded its manufacturing footprint across several Indian states and operates facilities covering automotive batteries, industrial batteries, and home UPS systems. Exide’s automotive range includes starting, lighting, and ignition batteries for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles, buses, trucks, and other commercial vehicles. The company also supplies batteries for electric rickshaws and other low-voltage mobility uses. Its industrial business covers standby and motive-power applications in conventional and renewable power, telecommunications, infrastructure, railways, mining, defence, and information-technology facilities. The company has also supplied specialized batteries, including submarine batteries for the Indian Navy. In addition to conventional lead-acid products, Exide has expanded into energy-storage integration and lithium-ion technology. Through Exide Energy Solutions Limited, it produces and sells lithium-ion modules and packs from its Prantij facility in Gujarat and is developing a large cell-manufacturing project in Bengaluru. The planned cell plant is intended to support electric vehicles and stationary storage, with a stated capacity of 12 gigawatt-hours to be developed in two phases. Exide also operates through subsidiaries and affiliates in areas including international battery manufacturing, distribution, and lead recycling. Recycling is an important part of the group’s operating model. Its wholly owned subsidiary Chloride Metals Limited runs secondary lead-recycling and refining facilities in India, recovering lead and lead alloys from end-of-life batteries for reuse in battery production. This creates a materials-recovery link between replacement-battery sales and manufacturing. The Exide name has a complicated international trademark history because the Indian business and Exide Technologies have historical connections to predecessor companies associated with the Electric Storage Battery Company. Exide Industries and Exide Technologies litigated over use of the Exide name in India for many years. The dispute resulted in Indian court proceedings and was ultimately resolved through an out-of-court settlement in 2017, under which Exide Technologies waived rights to the Exide trademark in India. Exide Industries remains an active Indian storage-battery company, while continuing to reposition part of its business toward lithium-ion cells, modules, packs, and broader energy-storage solutions.

Before local production began, Exide batteries were imported into India through businesses connected with the Chloride Electrical Storage Company. The Indian manufacturing operation was established in 1947 at Shyamnagar, West Bengal, under Associated Battery Makers Eastern Limited. Early products included Exide and Dagenite batteries for road vehicles, as well as specialized batteries for railways and defence. The company broadened its industrial role during the 1960s. Exide Iron Clad batteries were used by the railways, and production of special defence batteries was increased after the 1962 Sino-Indian War. In 1963, the company also manufactured large stationary batteries for railway-track electrification. These applications helped establish the business beyond replacement automotive batteries. In 1969, Exide opened a second factory at Chinchwad in Maharashtra. Its location near automobile original-equipment manufacturers supported the expansion of automotive-battery production as India’s vehicle industry developed. Over subsequent decades, Exide built a multi-state Indian manufacturing network, adding facilities for lead-acid batteries and home UPS systems. The group also developed overseas manufacturing and distribution connections, including operations or subsidiaries associated with Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, and exported products to more than 60 countries. Research and development became a formal part of the company’s structure with the establishment of an R&D centre in Kolkata in 1976. Exide’s technical collaborations have included relationships with battery and energy-storage companies in Brazil, Japan, the United States, and China. The company’s activities have covered automotive starting batteries, industrial standby systems, renewable-energy storage, telecom power, railway and defence applications, and household backup products. Exide later strengthened its circular-economy capabilities through Chloride Metals Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary involved in secondary smelting and lead refining. Its facilities recover lead and lead alloys from used lead-acid batteries, allowing recovered material to return to the battery-manufacturing process. A separate strand of the company’s history concerns the Exide trademark. The Indian business inherited rights and operations connected to the former Chloride group, while Exide Technologies descended from related United States battery interests. When Exide Technologies sought to enter the Indian market, Exide Industries initiated litigation in 1997. Indian court decisions during the following two decades considered trademark ownership, goodwill, and the parties’ historical claims. After the matter reached appellate proceedings, the companies settled in 2017. The settlement gave Exide Industries continuing control of the Exide trademark in India and included a waiver of Exide Technologies’ Indian trademark rights. In the 2020s, Exide began positioning itself for changes in transport and electricity storage by investing through Exide Energy Solutions Limited in lithium-ion technology. The subsidiary produces modules and packs and is developing a 12-gigawatt-hour cell plant in Bengaluru in two six-gigawatt-hour phases. This expansion complements, rather than immediately replaces, the company’s established lead-acid business, which remains central to its automotive, industrial, backup-power, and infrastructure operations.

• 2017

  Trademark dispute settled

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  Exide Industries and Exide Technologies reached an out-of-court settlement concerning the Exide name in India.

• 2012

  Delhi High Court trademark ruling

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  The Delhi High Court found Exide Industries to be the owner of the Exide trademark in India, though later proceedings continued.

• 1976

  Kolkata research centre established

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  The company established a research and development centre in Kolkata.

• 1969

  Chinchwad factory opens

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  A second factory opened at Chinchwad, Maharashtra, near automobile original-equipment manufacturers.

• 1963

  Expansion into railway and defence batteries

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  Exide increased special defence-battery production and manufactured large stationary batteries for railway electrification.

• 1947

  First Indian manufacturing plant opens

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  The first manufacturing facility was established at Shyamnagar in West Bengal under Associated Battery Makers Eastern Limited.

• 1920

  Indian operating predecessor established

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  The Chloride Electrical Storage Company was established in India after years of imported Exide battery sales, creating the corporate foundation for later local manufacturing.

• Lithium-ion expansion begins

  [1]Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org

  Exide Energy Solutions began producing lithium-ion modules and packs and started developing a 12-gigawatt-hour cell plant in Bengaluru.

Broad-based Indian battery and energy-storage provider serving automotive, industrial, backup-power, infrastructure, and emerging electric-mobility markets.

• Automotive batteries

  Exide automotive batteries

  Lead-acid starting, lighting, and ignition batteries for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars, buses, trucks, and other commercial vehicles. The range serves both vehicle manufacturers and replacement customers, and also covers selected electric-rickshaw power applications.

• Industrial energy storage

  Exide industrial batteries

  Battery systems for standby and motive-power requirements in utilities, renewable power, telecommunications, infrastructure, information-technology facilities, railways, mining, and defence. The portfolio includes stationary systems designed for continuity of power in critical installations.

• Residential backup power

  Exide home UPS and inverter systems

  Home UPS and inverter products designed to provide backup electricity for households and small premises. These products extend Exide’s storage-battery business into consumer power continuity and distributed backup applications.

• Lithium-ion energy storage

  Exide lithium-ion modules and packs

  Lithium-ion battery modules and packs produced through Exide Energy Solutions Limited for electric-vehicle and stationary-storage applications. The business represents Exide’s move beyond its traditional lead-acid portfolio.

• Battery recycling

  Lead recycling

  Through Chloride Metals Limited, Exide operates secondary smelting and refining facilities that recover lead and lead alloys from end-of-life lead-acid batteries. Recovered materials can be reused in new battery production.

• 2017

  Settlement of Indian Exide trademark disputeOther

  Background

  Exide Industries and Exide Technologies had contested ownership, goodwill, and use of the Exide name in India since litigation began in 1997.

  Action taken

  The companies entered an out-of-court settlement under which Exide Technologies waived rights to the Exide trademark in India in perpetuity.

  Aftermath

  Exide Industries retained the practical ability to use the Exide name in its Indian market, ending the prolonged dispute between the businesses.

  Source

• Investment in lithium-ion cells and systemsStrategy

  Background

  Growth in electric mobility and stationary energy storage created a strategic opportunity beyond conventional lead-acid batteries.

  Action taken

  Through Exide Energy Solutions Limited, the group began producing lithium-ion modules and packs and developed plans for a 12-gigawatt-hour cell plant in Bengaluru.

  Aftermath

  The initiative broadened Exide’s technology portfolio while its established lead-acid manufacturing and recycling operations continued.

  Source

• 2021.08.09

  Reported2021.08.09

  Exide launches Batmobile doorstep service[3]Exide推出Batmobile上门服务equitybulls.com

  Exide Industries launched its Batmobile Doorstep Service facility in Kolkata, extending the service to inverters and inverter batteries. The service uses WhatsApp, phone calls, or an online portal to arrange technician visits; the company said it would expand the service to 250 cities nationally by the end of August.

Read more

1. 1Exide Industriesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Exide Industries official websiteexideindustries.com
3. 3Exide推出Batmobile上门服务equitybulls.com