India’s Exide Industries is set to expand a production plant in West Bengal in collaboration with Japanese manufacturer Furukawa Battery to supply batteries for bullet trains.
Exide Industries CEO and MD Gautam Chatterjee (pictured) was quoted as telling the Economic Times: “The expansion project will mainly produce high-end nickel-cadmium batteries in technical collaboration with Furukawa.”
“These batteries have applications in bullet trains, metro rail and other critical installations— and the plant will also produce lead-acid batteries,” Chatterjee said.
Chatterjee said a new battery recycling plant would also be built at the site as part of the total investment equivalent to US$80 million.
Both projects will reportedly be completed within the next 12 to 18 months. Exide Industries and Furukawa did not respond to BEST Battery Briefing’s requests for details on production and recycling capacities.
News of the developments come just a week after BBB reported that Exide Industries, India’s largest automotive battery maker, is planning to reduce dependence on lead—by introducing the bipolar technology of US-based Advanced Battery Concepts.