The Hindu : Business : Amara Raja launches Powerzone chain

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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Amara Raja launches Powerzone chain

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. has gone in for a rupee term loan and external commercial borrowing (ECB) totalling Rs. 85 crore to finance its ongoing capacity expansion plan, ending its debt-free status.

The plan envisaged expansion of capacity from 3.6 million units to around 5.5 million units. The expansion is expected to fructify by June this year.

In an informal interaction with presspersons here on Monday, K. Suresh, Financial Controller, said the company had gone in for a five-year rupee term loan for Rs. 40 crore from Citibank at a fixed interest rate of 9.5 per cent. It had already penned a $10 million ECB programme with BNP Paribas at 50 basis points above the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate. This worked out to around 6.5 per cent.

Addressing a press conference earlier, Jayadev Galla, Managing Director, said the company was positioning itself to emerge as a `storage energy solution provider' five years hence. Given this objective, he hinted at the company entering new application areas in the storage energy field.

Amara Raja, on Monday, launched a new retail format, Powerzone, in Chengalpattu. The objective was to address the growing needs in the rural market. The company was planning to launch 50 such stores this month across the country.

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