Due to a continuous upward climb in the prices of Zinc, a key raw material for making batteries, Eveready, a leading name in Indian battery industry has decided a price hike in their carbon zinc batteries.

March 12, 2010 /India PRwire/ -- Eveready Industries India Ltd, second largest manufacturer of Carbon Zinc batteries in the world, announced a hike in the prices of its complete range of dry cell batteries today.

"Over the past 4-5 months there has been a continuous upward climb in the prices of Zinc, a key raw material for making batteries, which has adversely impacted the manufacturing cost of Carbon Zinc batteries. The product segment also had to take on a hike in excise duty from 8% to 10% in the 2010 Union Budget. These have left us with very little option but to pass on a part of the increase in costs to the market. We are also increasing the MRP of all types of batteries by 5% to 10% with immediate effect", Mr Deepak Khaitan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Eveready Industries.

Eveready is the world's second largest producer of Carbon Zinc batteries selling about 1.2 billion batteries annually. Apart from dry cell batteries, Eveready offers a basket of FMCG products that find place in every household. This includes torches, rechargeable batteries, CFL & GLS lamps, packet tea and mosquito repellents. In the last one year, Eveready has also launched a range of LED based lanterns aimed at semi/non-electrified households in rural villages of India; providing safe, efficient lighting which are cheaper than even kerosene lanterns in the long run. The consumer acceptance of this range of products has been most encouraging - resulting in the company selling 2 million units in the first year of its launch. Eveready has an extensive distribution network of 4000 dealers reaching all the way upto 5000 population towns.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to Editor

About Eveready

Eveready is one of India's most reputed FMCG companies.

The company has a portfolio comprising of dry cell batteries (carbon zinc batteries, rechargeable batteries and alkaline batteries), flashlights (torches), CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and packet tea. It has also recently forayed into the mosquito repellant industry.

For more information, please contact:
Vrunda Mahajan (PR Executive) (L) 9920249014