Amara Raja and Johnson Controls to bring a new wave of battery technologies to India.
Hyderabad, Oct 3rd 2018 – Amara Raja Batteries Ltd and Johnson Controls, Inc. have signed a technology collaboration agreement to bring a new wave of battery technologies to India. Expanding on their 20 year partnership, the two companies will share and improve product design and manufacturing technologies enabling higher performance across Starting, Lighting and Ignition (SLI), Enhanced Flooded Batteries (EFB) and Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) batteries. These advanced batteries are fundamental to enabling sophisticated consumer features and stricter emission standards in automotive vehicles.
As part of this collaboration, Amara Raja will license Johnson Controls’ proprietary PowerFrame® grid technology. This patented technology is up to 66 percent more durable and more corrosion-resistant to other grid designs. PowerFrame® grid technology has been tested in multiple cities around the world, in the most extreme, real-world conditions, across the full range of automotive low-voltage battery products. The advanced grid technology is also critical to meeting performance requirements associated with the Bharat stage VI environmental norms going into effect in 2020.
Commenting on the technology collaboration agreement, Mr. Jayadev Galla, Vice-Chairman & Managing director, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, said, “We offer innovative and the most advanced technologies to our customers, and our partnership with Johnson Controls has been a great enabler to our growth over the last many years. We have laid out a clear road map for long term strategic growth and will continue to make investments in technology capabilities, capacity building, brands and distribution. The new technology collaboration agreement with Johnson Controls will help us bring continued advancements in the products and technologies that meet our customers’ future needs. This is synergistic to our motto of ‘Gotta be a better way.’”
Mr. Joseph Walicki, President, Power Solutions, Johnson Controls, said, “Johnson Controls has been at the forefront of offering the advanced battery solutions to meet the ever increasing demands of automotive vehicles. Our PowerFrame® grid technology coupled with the EFB and AGM products that we manufacture provide the highest reliability and optimal performance to meet our customers’ present and future needs. We are very pleased with the successful growth of Amara Raja over the years and are excited to strengthen our partnership through this technology collaboration agreement.”
A company with 26% equity each from the Galla Family and Johnson Controls Inc., USA, Amara Raja Batteries Limited is the technology leader and one of the largest manufacturers of lead-acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian storage battery industry.
In India, Amara Raja is the preferred supplier to major telecom service providers, Telecom equipment manufacturers, the UPS sector (OEM & Replacement), Indian Railways and to the Power, Oil & Gas, among other industry segments. Amara Raja’s industrial battery brands comprise PowerStack®, AmaronVoltTM and Quanta®. The Company is a leading manufacturer of automotive batteries under the brands Amaron® and PowerzoneTM, which are distributed through a large pan-India sales & service retail network.
The Company supplies automotive batteries under OE relationships to Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors. The Company’s Industrial and Automotive Batteries are exported to countries in the Indian Ocean Rim.
Johnson Controls is a global diversified technology and multi industrial leader serving a wide range of customers in more than 150 countries. Our 120,000 employees create intelligent buildings, efficient energy solutions, integrated infrastructure and next generation transportation systems that work seamlessly together to deliver on the promise of smart cities and communities. Our commitment to sustainability dates back to our roots in 1885, with the invention of the first electric room thermostat. We are committed to helping our customers win and creating greater value for all of our stakeholders through strategic focus on our buildings and energy growth platforms.
Johnson Controls Power Solutions is a world leader working in partnership with our customers to meet increasing market demands for energy storage on a global scale. We create the most advanced battery technologies for virtually every type of vehicle on the planet. Our employees develop, manufacture and distribute the smartest portfolio of lead-acid and lithium-ion technologies in the world. These technologies deliver uniquely sustainable, next-generation performance. We partner with our customers at every link in the supply chain, contributing to the communities we serve and the planet we share.