In India, employees report the highest levels of senior leadership effectiveness

January 28, 2010 /India PRwire/ — Research conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a division of Kenexa® (NASDAQ: KNXA), a global provider of business solutions for human resources, evaluated workers’ views of their organization’s senior leadership team. According to the latest research, an organization’s senior leadership team has a significant impact on its employees’ overall opinions of the company and engagement levels, which have been linked to both earnings per share and total shareholder return. The data come from an analysis of the WorkTrends™ database, an annual survey of worker opinions conducted by KRI.

The latest results indicate that the global rating of senior leadership as effectiveness is 51%. Employees in India (69%), Brazil (59%) and the United States (54%) report the highest ratings of leadership effectiveness followed by those in China (53%) and Canada (52%). Workers in Japan (33%) reported the lowest ratings. Employees’ evaluations of their organization’s leadership team are driven by the extent to which senior managers gain employees’ confidence through their decisions, actions and communications, keep employees well informed regarding company direction, and are seen as having the ability to deal with the organization’s challenges.

Employees in India view their senior leadership team as effective, if it quickly responds to marketplace opportunities and competitive threats, makes decisions that demonstrate that quality and improvement are top priorities, keeps employees well-informed about organizational issues, strives to serve the interests of multiple stakeholders, and recognizes employees for delivering outstanding customer services.

For all workers studied, a strong organizational leadership team has a significant impact on its employees’ engagement levels. Employee engagement is the extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to organizational success, and are willing to apply discretionary effort to accomplishing tasks important to the achievement of organizational goals. Engaged employees favorably rate their pride in their organization, willingness to recommend it as a place to work and their overall job satisfaction.

Additionally, employees with positive opinions of their leadership team state a much higher intention to stay with the organization versus those who are dissatisfied. Those who favorably rate their leadership teams are also much more likely to have confidence in the organization’s future and feel that they have a promising future with the company.

“These findings reinforce the importance of senior management’s communication with employees. Those teams that demonstrate a strong emphasis on gaining employees’ confidence through their decisions and actions, keep employees well informed regarding company direction, and have the ability to deal with the organization’s challenges are the teams that will build more highly engaged workforces and outperform their competitors,” said Jack Wiley, executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to Editor

About WorkTrends™

The Kenexa WorkTrends database is a comprehensive normative database of employee opinions on topics including leadership, employee engagement and customer orientation. Comparisons are available for workers from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

About Kenexa

Kenexa® provides business solutions for human resources. We help global organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every organization. For more than 20 years, Kenexa has studied human behavior and team dynamics in the workplace, and has developed the software solutions, business processes and expert consulting that help organizations impact positive business outcomes through HR. Kenexa is the only company that offers a comprehensive suite of unified products and services that support the entire employee lifecycle from pre-hire to exit. Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.

For more information, please contact:
Sonali P.S. (Branch Head) (L) +91 80 40728728, (M) +91 9844489854, (F) +91 80 41134407

Banking life saving umbilical cord blood of your child will offer a potential resource for treating a growing number of ailments, including cancer, leukemia, blood, and immune disorders.

January 28, 2010 /India PRwire/ — Banking life saving umbilical cord blood of your child will offer a potential resource for treating a growing number of ailments, including cancer, leukemia, blood, and immune disorders. Since 1988, stem cells have been effective in treating more than 80 life-threatening diseases including different types of Cancers, Thalassemia, Blood and Metabolic disorders, Immunodeficiency Ailments and Autoimmune disease. This most talked about life saving umbilical cord blood bank arrives in Andhra Pradesh. Now parents can bank their baby’s cord blood with Cord Care (A Division of PathCare Labs (P) Ltd.,) – Andhra Pradesh’s first Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking. It is South India’s second and India’s fifth facility.

Birth is a one-time opportunity. Make a choice on the day your baby is born which will impact the future health of the child and even your other children. Banking life saving umbilical cord blood of your child will offer a potential resource for treating a growing number of ailments, including cancer, leukemia, blood, and immune disorders. Since 1988, stem cells have been effective in treating more than 80 life-threatening diseases including different types of Cancers, Thalassemia, Blood and Metabolic disorders, Immunodeficiency Ailments and Autoimmune disease.

This most talked about life saving umbilical cord blood bank arrives in Andhra Pradesh. Now parents can bank their baby’s cord blood with Cord Care (A Division of PathCare Labs (P) Ltd.,) - Andhra Pradesh’s first Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking disclosed Dr. G.V. Prasad, Managing Director and CEO of PathCare Labs (P) Ltd. addressing a Press Conference in city today. It is South India’s second and India’s fifth facility.

Cord Care is a division of PathCare Labs, a Hyderabad based Futuristic Diagnostic Service Provider with a state-of-the-art Central Clinical Reference Laboratory at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh offering full range of speciality diagnostic facilities resulting in a higher degree of clinical excellence and accuracy in reporting.

PathCare has embraced a policy of stringent quality standards, ethical practices, professionalism, innovation, optimism and dedication for carrying it into the realms of global leadership in providing accurate clinical referral testing services.

Cord Care’s Cord Blood Stem Cell Storage facility is designed to meet global norms for processing and cyro-preservation of samples efficiently, aided by the most advanced technology and computerization. The only stem cell bank with national coverage supported by Regional Laboratories and more than 600 Collection Centers spread across the country.

Cord Care’s Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank has been set up at PathCare Labs, Hyderabad with the state of the art facilities such as – Fully Automated Stem Cell Processing Section – Testing Laboratory – Cryo-Preservation Centre – IT and Logistics support centre – Power Back-up etc.

The Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank is established would be affiliated and certified by a key Governing Agencies such as DBT (Department of Bio-technology), DCGI (Drug Controller, Government of India), US-FDA and American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). The quality and operational procedures of bank would confirm to the guidelines recommended by these agencies.

CORD BLOOD STEM CELLS:

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the newborn’s umbilical cord after the cord has been cut and discarded. The blood is not drawn from the baby, but rather drained from the umbilical cord after the baby is born. The blood along with the placenta is otherwise discarded. Doctors have identified that cord blood, like bone marrow, is a rich source of stem cells, which can be used in medical treatments. Cord blood contains stem cells that can save lives. A variety of cell types exist in cord blood including Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC), Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) and Epithelial Stem Cells (ESC). Cord blood is routinely discarded after birth, but a process known as cord blood banking allows families to save this valuable resource for potential future medical use.

Stem Cells have opened a whole new area of thought in the history of medical treatment. Stem cells are the body’s “master” cells that regenerate and turn into the cells that form all of the tissues, organs, and systems in the human body. The first use of stem cells in medicine was to regenerate healthy blood and immune cells in cancer patients after they received chemotherapy. In an exciting new area of medicine called regenerative medicine, scientists are focusing on using cord blood stem cells for the treatment of brain injury and juvenile diabetes.

• Stem cells can be roughly described as the all-rounders of our body. They can be called over to bat, bowl and field on behalf of other cells in case of emergencies.

• They can regenerate into over 200 types of tissues. Every stem cell divides in to a potential muscle cell or red blood cell or nerve cell. What is more exciting is the discovery that cord blood is a rich source of stem cells.

• Research into stem cells is very promising and indicates that numerous other diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Cartilage Regeneration, Liver Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Cord Injuries etc can be treated with stem cell therapy.

• Trials are on to treat lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, liver disorders and heart aliments.

Patients requiring a stem cell transplant will receive these stem cells from one of three sources: embryonic, bone marrow, circulating blood, or umbilical cord blood. The first two exist in all healthy adults, but cord blood can only be harvested and stored at birth. It is easier to match transplant patients with cord blood than with the two sources of adult blood. Hence, establishing bank to preserve cord blood can save many lives.

Cord blood stem cell transplants have better success rates than bone marrow transplants and are preferred because these cells are young. It has also been scientifically found that cord blood stem cells have better tolerance of HLA mismatches. Thus cord blood can make a difference between life and death in difficult transplants.

Stem Cell are so tiny that it would take a million of them clustered together to form a pin head. Yet as their name denotes all other cells ‘stem’ from them. They have the capacity to reconstruct, repair and make good damaged cell structures/ailing organs such as brain, the heart, the spine, the limbs, the muscles, the skin and everything else that constitutes the human body.

Once the body is fully grown they lie dormant in the marrow of our bones, in the cavities in our eye, under the nose, in our stomach and even in our skin waiting for the signal for transform into whichever tissue or organ that is needed. They are the body’s hidden biological repair system–the super mechanics with a warehouse stacked with everything you need to make your body new again.

Cord Blood is a Bio-Genetic Insurance against diseases – since these stem cells may be lifesaving to their family. Recognizing the current and future potential many families are seriously considering storing newborn’s cord blood so that they can fall back upon this biological resource should the need arise. Most of the families, who have no family history of disease, but recognize the current and future potential of their newborn’s cord blood stem cells as a biological resource if ever needed. Families know that there is only one opportunity – at birth – to collect these genetically unique stem cells and if not taken, the cord blood is simply discarded.

These banks are large scale cryogenic facilities that preserves cord blood at around -196ºC. It takes just 5 to 10 minutes to collect Cord Blood since the cord blood is collected after the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut. It is a very simple and painless process for both mother and child.

Cord Care has a facility to store upto one lakh samples said Dr. G.V. Prasad. The collection, processing and preservation of cord blood is done at a fee of Rs. 75,000 and the samples are stored in cryogenic vaults for a period of 21 years. This is certainly a lifetime investment which can make a difference between life and death.

Since the first successful stem cell transplantation took place in 1988, when French researchers took umbilical cord blood from a newborn and gave it to a 5 year old sibling who had Fanconi’s anemia, a severe type of anemia that causes skeletal defects. To date, there have been more than 10,000 umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants reported worldwide.

According to latest edition of India Today, The L.V. Prasad Institute has treated over 700 cases of Corneal regenerative procedures using stem cells with much success said Dr. G.V. Prasad.

Stem cell banks are well developed business concept in developed nations and it is rapidly gaining ground in India. Stem cells were in the limelight when recently US President Barak Obama lifted an eight-year-old ban on Government-supported funding for embryonic stem cell research, opening floodgates for millions of dollars in research.

In the Indian too, stem cell banking is gaining momentum. “In India the industry put-together has banked about 25,000 cord blood units over the last three years. This number is set to increase substantially with increased market reach and awareness, increase in regulatory approvals for stem cells based products and lowered resistance to private banking will together encourage more clients to choose stem cell banking, Dr. G.V. Prasad said.

Stating further Dr.G.V.Prasad added that with more than 80,000 births a day or 26 million births a year, India is poised to be the largest source for umbilical cord blood in the world. It’s no surprise then that leading stem cell banking companies are keenly eyeing India. The investments are considerable and mostly run into millions of dollars. Due to high birth rates, India presents lucrative opportunity for stem cell banking business.

Stem cell preservation is a huge business opportunity in the international market and as per estimates the global stem cell market is expected to become USD 10 billion opportunity over next 10 years. Analysts estimate that Indian stem cell banks, which are currently at Rs. 100 crore, would generate Rs. 2,700 crore in revenues by 2012, accounting for 17 per cent of the world market. “Companies with foreign funding are entering the market and are planning to capture at least 21 per cent of the total market,”.

The world market for stem cell therapy is projected to increase from an estimated Rs 1,44,000 crore ($ 30 billion) in 2009 to Rs. 4,60,800 crore ($96 billion) by 2015.

Further, India offers unmatched advantages in terms of land and manpower cost competitiveness, availability of technical workforce with high skill sets and regulated market. The Country has all the essential ingredients to emerge as a key repository of cord blood for companies across the globe.

With rapid economic growth, widening base of high income group couples, the Country has huge target population that could be enticed towards the benefits of cord blood storage. Estimated cost of cord blood storage cost around USD 1,500 to USD 2200 for a 20 year period and India has huge customer base which could afford this said Dr. G.V. Prasad.

Presently, lack of awareness and highly technical nature of the process is the key reason for a small customer base in the Country. However, the market has tremendous potential that could be tapped by initiating an awareness campaign and a customized marketing plan observed Dr. Prasad.

As of now, there are four players in this five-year-old market. Most of these cord blood banking companies are having an overseas parent company which is responsible for the initial investment. Leading private players in area of cord blood banking are: Life-cell International, Chennai; Cryo banks International India, Gurgaon; Reliance Life Sciences, Mumbai and Cord-life Sciences India, Kolkata.

The pharmaceutical clusters at Hyderabad would offer various operational and infrastructure benefits to the Cord Care Stem Cell bank. Since the city is housed with several pharma, biotech, CRO’s and R&D companies as its prospective tenants, it would offer significant options for operational and technical collaboration. Further, the envisaged Clinical Trials would facilitate testing of pioneering stem cell therapies. Joint research collaboration between biotech firm and stem cell bank would expedite the process wherein the bank would extend its hi-end storage facilities to be used for trials in the vicinity. Thus the cluster would assist the bank realize various growth avenues arising out of such a configuration said Dr. Prasad.

Established in January 2008 within a span of 18 months PathCare Labs has established 8 regional processing laboratories across India. PathCare Labs in Hyderabad is spread in over 20,000 sft, area adhering to CLP, CLSI, FDA and WHO guidelines. It is certified by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), Government of India. PathCare Central Clinical Reference Lab is equipped with State of the Art equipment certified by US FDA and CE marked and is backed with highly skilled professionals comprising of Pathologists, Bio-chemists, Microbiologists, Genetists and support staff for sample accession and handling.

Path Care Labs is also all set in a road map to expand in the field of diagnostics and the infrastructure. It proposes to expand its services to the segments like

• PAN India presence through Regional Labs (20 Labs)
• Hospital Lab Management at Small Hospitals and Clinics (100 Labs)
• Supporting Clinical Trails for diagnostic tests

Stem Cell Therapy through preservation of Cord Blood in a bank certainly has great and promising future for many.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

For more information, please contact:
Ramchandram Dhannaram (Managing Partner) (L) 0091-40-23241484

IIM Calcutta, SP Jain Mumbai, IIT Chennai and IIM Indore compete to represent India at the Asia Pacific Regional Challenge

January 27, 2010 /India PRwire/ — Indian Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP) today announced the winners of the regional rounds in India of the CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge 2009-10. Four winning universities from different parts of India, IIM Calcutta, SP Jain Mumbai, IIT Chennai and IIM Indore, will compete at the national level for the opportunity to represent India at the Asia Pacific Regional Challenge to be held in Manila, the Philippines, on 6 March 2010. The winning team from Asia Pacific will advance to the Global Investment Research Challenge on 17 April 2010 in Hong Kong.

The CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge is a unique opportunity for university students, investment industry professionals, publicly traded companies and corporate sponsors from across the globe to jointly promote best practices in equity research and company analysis.

The universities assemble teams of three to five business and finance students who work directly with a company in researching and preparing a company analysis. Each team is assigned a dedicated mentor (CFA charter holders / experienced industry professionals). The teams’ final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of heads of research, portfolio managers and chief investment officers from the world’s top firms.

There are 28 universities in various zones competing in the India Challenge this year, which has being organized by Indian Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP). These are:

• North Zone: IIM Indore (winner), IMT Ghaziabad (first runner-up), FMS Delhi, IIFT Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, IIM Lucknow and IIT Kanpur
• East Zone: IIM Calcutta (winner), IIM Shillong (first runner-up), IIFT Calcutta, XLRI Jamshedpur, XIM Bhubaneshwar, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Guwahati
• West Zone: SP Jain (winner), IIM Ahmedabad (first runner-up), JBIMS, NMIMS, IIT Bombay, Symbiosis Pune, Sydenham Management Studies
• South Zone: IIT Chennai (winner), IIM Kozhikode (first runner-up), IFMR Chennai, Great Lakes Chennai, IIM Bangalore, ISB Hyderabad and BIM Trichy

In just three years, more than 1,500 students from nearly 250 universities worldwide have participated in the challenge, and current response indicates exponential growth for the future of this extraordinary annual event. Additionally, all participants are introduced and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

“The Challenge brings universities, students and investment professionals together in a unique fashion, which advances the principles of ethics and professional excellence, and the value of a career in the finance industry. Through this competition, students gain a taste of what it’s like to be an analyst in the real world,” says Sunil B. Singhania, CFA, President of the Indian Association of Investment Professionals.

“These talented students will gain some valuable experience in analyzing a company from a professional’s perspective – this will help them serve the investing public well as future investment professionals. We at CFA Institute are happy to be a part in the advancement of the investment profession,” says Ashvin P. Vibhakar, CFA, Managing Director of CFA Institute Asia Pacific Operations.

The inaugural India Challenge was held in April 2008, when nine universities across India were invited in the preliminary round to submit a written research report on a publicly traded company, New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV). Three teams were short-listed to enter the final round to present their analysis to a panel of judges in Mumbai. Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies won the Challenge.

The second Challenge in 2009 had 16 universities participating from different regions of the country, and the number of companies participating also increased to four. Considering the immense response this year, the 28 universities were divided into four zones – Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern, with one company assigned to each zone.

CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge

Additional information on the Global Investment Research Challenge and its participants can be found at http://girc.membersocieties.org.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to Editor

India Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP)

India Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP), which is established April 2005 and located in Mumbai, is an association of local investment professionals. As one of the 136 CFA Institute member societies, IAIP connects members to a global network of investment professionals. Consisting of portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors, and other financial professionals, IAIP promotes ethical and professional standards within the investment industry, facilitates the exchange of information and opinions among people within the local investment community and beyond, and works to further the public’s understanding of the CFA designation and investment industry.

CFA Institute

CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA® and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 97,000 members, who include the world’s more than 86,000 CFA charter holders, as well as 136 affiliated professional societies in 57 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.

For more information, please contact:
Mohd Ghouse (Assistant) (L) 040-44344325

Full-Scale Fatigue Test System, Using the Latest Moog Test Controllers to Perform Speed and Payload Testing on Freight Wagon Bogies

January 22, 2010 /India PRwire/ — Moog’s Industrial Systems Group, a division of Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A) (NYSE: MOG.B), announced today that the Research Designs & Standards Organization (RDSO) division of the Indian Railways has placed a USD 4 million order for a test rig to perform fatigue testing on freight wagons. Moog is a leader in providing high-performance testing systems to the transportation, automotive and aerospace markets.

The 5,000 kN bogie test rig includes high capacity actuators, a hydraulic power supply, a portal frame and floor design as well as a fully integrated 8-channel system that combines Moog’s software and test controllers. This test controller system is based on a leading-edge platform and includes a real-time Ethernet interface, enabling transparent integration of 96-channel data acquisition.

Moog’s test rig will simul0p0 ate real running conditions for Indian Railways and will be used to test new bogies with higher payload capacity for increased freight-carrying and speed performance on the existing rail network. This is intended to boost freight capacity for Indian Railways while the dedicated freight corridor, covering about 2,762 km (1,715 mi) on the Eastern and Western corridors, is being developed.

By procuring this new test rig, Indian Railways will be able to design and validate axle load wagons of up to 40 tons in comparison to the existing 22 to 25 ton models.

“Freight transport is a key revenue driver for Indian Railways, making up 70 percent of revenues and it is growing rapidly. Until the dedicated freight corridor is operational, they need to extract more from their existing rail infrastructure to meet the ongoing rise in demand for freight-capacity. To do so they have designed new test requirements to assess payload parameters on bogies and ultimately increase payload capacity. Moog understands Indian Railway’s requirements and is providing a test-system that matches railway’s specifications,” said K.M. Sathish, sales manager, Moog India.

“The development of this fatigue test rig is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our expertise in developing test systems that can help transportation systems extract more performance from their existing and future infrastructures. We are really delighted to work with Indian Railways on this project and are confident Moog’s test system will help them increase their freight payload capacity. The high payloads and the extensive tests RDSO requires are quite unique and represent a new step for railways,” Anurag Kashyap, managing director, Moog India.

In addition to the test rigs, Moog offers a wide range of motion control solutions including sway and tilt control systems for railways that were previously managed passively using dampers to absorb lateral movement. Moog has successfully worked with a number of customers to introduce electric actuation for active control of sway and tilt in trains based on compact, lightweight and reliable electric actuators. These actuators are specifically designed to withstand the vibration, shock and extreme temperatures to which railway hardware is exposed.

Moog recently provided electric actuation for tilt control on high-speed trains such as the Shinkansen in Japan. This enables a train to lean over and negotiate a corner without excessive reduction in speed.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to Editor

About Moog

Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moog’s Industrial Systems Group designs and manufactures high performance motion control solutions combining electric, hydraulic and hybrid technologies with expert consultative support in a range of applications including plastics, metal forming, power generation, wind energy, test and simulation. We help performance-driven companies design and develop their next-generation machines. Moog’s Industrial Group, with fiscal year 2009 sales of USD 455 million and 40 locations worldwide, is part of Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A) (NYSE: MOG.B), which had fiscal year 2009 sales of USD 1.849 billion. For more information please visit www.moog.com/industrial.

For more information, please contact:
Prasad Padman (Media Contact) (L) +65 65137871

Amara Raja Batteries Limited, India’s leading Industrial and Automotive Battery company (BSE Code: 500008 & NSE Symbol: AMARAJABAT), has earned a net profit of Rs. 399 million for the third quarter(Q3) ended December 31, 2009, recording a growth of 113% over Q3 of 2008-09.

January 21, 2010 /India PRwire/ — Amara Raja Batteries Limited, India’s leading Industrial and Automotive Battery company (BSE Code: 500008 & NSE Symbol: AMARAJABAT), has earned a net profit of Rs. 399 million for the third quarter(Q3) ended December 31, 2009, recording a growth of 113% over Q3 of 2008-09. Net Income for Q3 of 2009-10 stood at 3,674 Million (Net Sales: Rs.3,668 million + other income: Rs 6 million). For the nine months period ended December 31,2009, the Company earned Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs.1,986 million and Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs.1,303 million, resulting in a growth of more than 146% and 148% respectively as compared to the corresponding period ended December 31,2008.

Value in Millions INR

Nine Months Ended Full Year

31-Dec-09 31-Dec-08 2008-09

Net Sales 10,327 9,848 13,132

PBT 1,986 805 1,227

PAT 1,303 524 805

The industrial batteries business has continued to maintain dominant market share in served markets. Telecom industry has witnessed a slowdown in network infrastructure roll out due to improved efficiencies in use of tower infrastructure and telecom equipment despite which the division has performed well. The enhanced medium VRLA capacity and continued improvement in railways and power control off take has enabled the business vertical to post reasonable numbers. The recovery of momentum in telecom network expansion plans and Amara Raja position as preferred vendor status with key customer will determine the performance going forward.

The automotive batteries business continues its growth momentum backed by strong off take by OE customers and commercial vehicle segment. The aftermarket demand continues to be robust, aided by Amara Raja leading brands viz., Amaron, Powerzone and Amaron Probike Rider. With the demand outlook for the automotive industry continues to be encouraging, this business vertical hopes of achieving strong growth in the next few quarters.

Commenting on the performance Mr.Jayadev Galla, Managing Director said, “Amara Raja has yet again posted impressive results for the third consecutive quarter in this difficult year. Our investments ahead of time, automotive industry recovery and the strength of our business model has enabled us to post good results. The high volatility in lead prices and the sluggish demand in the telecom sector, we are cautiously optimistic of our performance for the next quarter, he added.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to Editor

About Amara Raja Batteries Ltd

About Amara Raja Batteries Limited, an Amara Raja- Johnson Controls company with 26% equity from Johnson Controls, is the technology leader and is 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, UPS Segments (OEM &Replacement), Indian railways and to power, Oil & Gas among other industry segments. Amara Raja manufactures and sells automotive batteries under the Brand Name AMARON which is distributed through a large pan-India sale-service retail network.

Company supplies automotive batteries under OE relationships to Ashok Leyland, General motors, Hindustan Motors, Honda, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors. The company is an exclusive supplier to Daimler Chrysler, Ford and Swaraj Mazda. The company’s Industrial and Automotive batteries are exported to Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Johnson Controls is a global leader in interior experience, building efficiency and power solutions. The company provides innovative automotive interiors that help make driving more comfortable, safe and enjoyable. For buildings it offers products and services that optimize energy use and improve comfort and security. Johnson Controls also provides batteries for automobiles and hybrid electric vehicles, along with system engineering and service expertise. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), founded in 1885, is head quartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its sales for 2009 totalled US $ 28.5 billion.

Safe Harbor

Some of the statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements include our financial and growth projections as well as statements concerning our plans, strategies, intentions and beliefs concerning our business and the markets in which we operate. These statements are based on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update these statements as circumstances change. There are risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from these forward looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the level of the market demand for our products, the highly competitive market for the types of the products that we offer, market condition that would cause our customers to reduce their spending for our products, our ability to create, acquire and build new businesses and to grow our existing businesses, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, currency fluctuations and market conditions in India and elsewhere around the world, and otherwise not specifically mentioned herein but those that are common to industry.

For more information, please contact:
Mohd Ghouse (Assistant) (L) 040-44344325