Exide Industries has invested an additional Rs. 2 billion (US$ 21 million) in its wholly owned subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions Limited (EESL), through a rights-based equity subscription to support the development of its greenfield multi-gigawatt lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

The investment was made on August 18th, with Exide Industries subscribing to 57,142,857 equity shares of EESL at Rs. 35 per share. Each share has a face value of Rs. 10 and a premium of Rs. 25.

Following the transaction, Exide Industries' cumulative investment in EESL has increased to Rs. 51.0223 billion, while its shareholding in the subsidiary remains unchanged at 100%. The cumulative investment also includes the investment in the erstwhile merged subsidiary, Exide Energy Private Limited (EEPL).

The latest investment forms part of an additional funding plan of up to Rs. 14 billion approved by Exide Industries' Board of Directors on January 30th, 2026. The approved funding can be provided in one or more tranches and is intended to finance the development of EESL's greenfield multi-gigawatt lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility and meet its other funding requirements.

EESL, incorporated on March 24th, 2022, is developing the Bengaluru facility to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells, modules and packs for India's electric vehicle market and stationary energy storage applications. The project has an initial planned production capacity of 6 GWh, which can be scaled up to 12 GWh. It is planned to have four production lines covering cylindrical and prismatic cell formats and will cater to both lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistries.

As of March 31st, 2026, EESL had a net worth of Rs. 39.91 billion and a turnover of Rs. 1.5756 billion. The company reported a loss after tax of Rs. 2.4816 billion for FY26.

The latest funding follows a Rs. 999.9 million investment made by Exide Industries in EESL through a rights issue in July to support the Bengaluru lithium-ion cell manufacturing project.

Exide Industries' management said earlier this month that its EBITDA margin increased to 12.4% in Q1 FY27, up 20 basis points year on year and 70 basis points sequentially, supported by higher revenue, cost controls and supply-chain efficiencies despite elevated input costs and adverse currency movements.

Regarding its lithium-ion business, the company's chief financial officer said it was too early to comment on margins, as the lithium-ion pack business remained unprofitable because of the low value addition from imported cells. Management also expects pricing conditions for lithium-ion cells to be affected after China's export VAT rebate is fully removed from January 1st, 2027.

Ahead of the latest investment announcement, Exide Industries shares closed at Rs. 465.15 on the NSE, down Rs. 10.55, or 2.22%.