BWI: Saft’s New World-Class Bangalore Factory Opens Door to Expansion into India’s Growing Battery Market

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Saft
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 03:35 PM IST (10:05 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Defence & security, Electronic appliances & components, Information technology, Transport engineering; Technology
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Saft's New World-Class Bangalore Factory Opens Door to Expansion into India's Growing Battery Market
New state-of-the-art factory in the Silicon Valley of India will double Saft's local production capability, opening access to new business opportunities in one of the world's fastest developing battery markets

Paris, France and Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Tuesday, January 22, 2013 -- (Business Wire India) -- Saft, the world's leading designer and manufacturer of high-tech industrial batteries, has inaugurated a new world-class factory in Bidadi, Bangalore with its partner, Amalgamations, to meet the growing needs of India's energy and power sectors.

The new 75,000 sq. factory, which will be operated by the AMCO Saft India Limited joint venture, will produce state-of-the-art, nickel-based, rechargeable batteries, effectively doubling Saft's local production capacity for industrial battery systems. This additional capacity will enable Saft to address the growing demand for energy storage to support mega power plants and photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy schemes, as well as meeting the back-up power needs of defense and oil and gas industry customers.

Putting Saft on track to benefit from India's railway expansion

The Bangalore plant incorporates all the resources required to support the Indian operations of major railway OEMs; from design to manufacturing and commissioning of battery solutions. It positions Saft to benefit from the large investments in the Indian railway market, anticipated for at least the next 5 years. This investment focuses on the booming urban transport system (metro) of every city with over three million inhabitants, as well as high-speed train projects. The local metro system in Bangalore already features Saft batteries and they are found in metros throughout India including Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur and Mumbai. Saft has also delivered batteries for a number of India's locomotive projects.

Local support for the telecom boom

The new Saft plant will provide a hub for the local support of telecom battery solutions by providing maintenance, training and commissioning to meet the booming demand for energy back-up systems linked to the deployment of mobile telecom networks in India.

Flight qualified

The new plant will be qualified/certified to manufacture aviation batteries for the Indian Air Force (the world's fifth largest air force) to complement Saft activities as a major supplier to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd)

Known as the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore is home to industry, technology, aerospace and telecoms companies, and has been cited as being one of the world's top 10 entrepreneurial locations, making it the ideal location for Saft in the fast developing marketplace of the Indian subcontinent.

Xavier Delacroix, General Manager of Saft's IBG Division, said: "Our new Bangalore factory is the latest Saft investment in emerging economies where there is high growth. This very significant increase in manufacturing capacity in India will play a crucial role in expanding our business to meet the demand for batteries suitable for high end applications in demanding environments, where performance and reliability are critical."

About Saft

Saft (Euronext: Saft) is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced technology batteries for industry. The Group is the world's leading manufacturer of nickel batteries and primary lithium batteries for the industrial infrastructure and processes, transportation, civil and military electronics markets. Saft is the world leader in space and defense batteries with its Li-ion technologies which are also being deployed in the energy storage, transportation and telecommunication markets. Saft's 4,000 employees present in 19 countries, its 16 manufacturing sites and extensive sales network all contribute to accelerating the Group's growth for the future.

For more information, visit Saft at www.saftbatteries.com

To view the photograph, please click on the link given below:

From left to right, Ms.Jill Ledger, Director of Corporate Communications & Institutional Relations, Mr.Xavier Delacroix, Head of Industrial Battery Division Saft & Chairman Of Amco Saft India Limited, Mr.G S Patil, CEO AMCO Saft India Ltd.

For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:

http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/IMG_1(83).JPG
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CONTACT DETAILS
Jill Ledger, Corporate Communications and Institutional Relations Director, Saft, +33 1 49 93 17 77, jill.ledger@saftbatteries.com
Catherine Jouatel, Corporate Communication, Saft, + 33 1 49 93 17 68, catherine.jouatel@saftbatteries.com
Stéphanie BIA, FTI Consulting Strategic Communications, +33 1 47 03 68 16, stephanie.bia@fticonsulting.com
Clément BENETREAU, FTI Consulting Strategic Communications, +33 1 47 03 68 12, clement.benetreau@fticonsulting.com
Matthew STROUD, FTI Consulting Strategic Communications, +33 1 47 03 68 63, matthew.stroud@fticonsulting.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, DEFENCE, ELECTRONICS, IT, TRANSPORT, TECHNOLOGY

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