Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, (ARBL) is the largest manufacturer of standby Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries in the Indian Ocean Rim comprising the area ranging from Africa and the Middle East to South East Asia. Based in Hyderabad, with a fully integrated manufacturing unit at Tirupati, Amara Raja Batteries has reached a position of leadership in a very short span.

ARBL is the largest supplier of stand-by batteries to core Indian utilities such as Indian Railways, power generating stations, BSNL, MTNL, VSNL, ITI and HTL. Major MNCs like ABB, Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Lucent, Motorola, Nokia, APC and Siemens are a few among the vast ARBL clientele.

Amara Raja is part of a global supply alliance that includes Johnson Controls Inc, USA, and JC Batterien in Germany.

This alliance supplies batteries to every major auto manufacturer in the world including General Motors, Ford, Daimler, Chrysler, Toyota, Volvo, Hyundai, Maruti, Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen and Fiat among others.

Industrial Batteries

Amara Raja pioneered the application of VRLA battery technology in India with the launch of AmaronVoltTM PowerstackTM, Amaron QuantaTM and AmaronsleekTM, a high integrity, long life battery designed to take care of critical standby applications for sectors such as telecommunications, railways, power generation and distribution, defence, and the oil and gas offshore.

The success of this technology led to its application in new areas such as motive power, UPS and solar energy.

The only maintenance-free valve regulated lead acid (MF-VRLA) batteries available in India in their respective segments; these batteries have several unique features that give them an edge over conventional batteries.

Automotive Batteries

ARBL has prestigious OE clients like Ford, Daimler, Chrysler, General Motors, Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Motors, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Fiat, Honda, Maruti and Hyundai, among others.

The company entered the replacement battery segment with the launch of Amaron Hi-lifeR auto batteries in January 2000 and the recent success was the launch of Amaron Pro Bike RiderTM, the only 60-month warranty batteries for two-wheelers alongside the prestigious Pro, Go, Flo range for automotive applications with the highest CCA and RC. These are the first zero-maintenance, high performance and long life batteries in these categories and have become the benchmark for quality and reliability in their respective fields.

Manufacturing Facility

Amara Raja's plant is located in Karakambadi, a village 12 km from the temple town of Tirupati. The existing facility is ISO9001, QS9000 and TS 16949 certified by RWTUV Germany, EMS, OHSAS and TQM compliance. The plant is part of the most completely integrated battery manufacturing facility in India with all critical components, including plastics sourced in-house from existing facilities on-site. This gives Amara Raja complete control over inventory and product quality.

Battery Excellence Centre

To cater to ever changing customer needs, Amara Raja has also built a Battery Excellence Centre - the first of its kind in Asia. This research and engineering centre has been conceived as a completely self-sufficient facility with a full range of testing equipment. The centre incorporates all the latest gadgetry for battery performance evaluation, design and life testing and also has capabilities for application engineering, vehicle systems study, simulations and computer-aided design including a full calibration laboratory on site. As a result, Amara Raja is uniquely placed to offer substantial benefits on sizing of batteries and electrical systems to its industrial and OEM customers and will be able to effect valuable improvements in product performance and manufacturing techniques. Furthermore, this centre will not only serve the needs of the domestic market, but also be a resource for alliance research and development projects.

(For further information contact: Pavan Naidu, Senior Executive-Marketing - IBD. COO, Fifth Floor, Astra Towers, Hi-Tech City, Kondapur, Hyderabad 500 038. Mobile: 098490-44290. Tel: 040-23683000. Fax: 91-40-23118219. Email: pvn@amararaja.co.in)