Amara Raja Group inaugurates pilot plant for research on lithium-cell technology

Andhra Pradesh-headquartered Amara Raja Group celebrated its 35^th Foundation Day virtually on December 20. The celebration nestled on the theme of ‘The New Way of Life’ and was attended by Dr. Ramachandra N. Galla, founder chairman, Amara Raja Group; Jayadev Galla, vice-chairman, Amara Raja Group, senior leaders and employees across all locations.

On the occasion, Dr. Ramachandra N Galla, unveiled an ‘Advanced Lithium Technology Research Hub’ by inaugurating the pilot plant for lithium cell manufacturing, which the company says is the first-of-its-kind in the country established by a private corporate firm.

During the event, Jayadev Galla, appreciated the unstinted support and efforts of all people across the group during the pandemic and announced the rolling back of Business Performance Linked pay (BPLP) deductions. The salary deductions were earlier affected to employees with salaries above Rs 500,000 per annum, from June 2020 onwards and were to be returned to employees in next financial year subject to business performance. Jayadev Galla also announced that all the BPLP deductions which came into effect from June 2020 to December 2020 will be paid back to employees in full, in the month of January 2021. 

Recalling the journey of the Group, Dr. Galla said “The Covid-19 Pandemic has made 2020 an unusual year for us, but equally it has been a year of significant learnings. While we made innovative products, achieved excellent results, created opportunities and acted as a responsible organisation in many ways, it is the large Amara Raja Family and The Amara Raja Way that made all the difference. We will continue our pursuit for excellence and strive for transformation and betterment of the society.”

Jayadev Galla said, “This year is different and unique from all other years, in many ways. Throughout the crisis, we were in close coordination with all our customers across all businesses to understand and support their critical needs for essential products and services. Most of our operations have slowly and steadily bounced back due to the unstinted support of all employees and all stakeholders. During this pandemic, we also had some memorable recognitions. One amongst them was Amara Raja Group getting featured by Forbes in ‘World's Best Employers for 2020’ list and we are ranked 316 Globally. This the first time in our history that we get ranked on one of the world-famous best employer recognitions. We are also very excited to have inaugurated the pilot plant facility for lithium cell manufacturing which is a very important step in our effort to explore advanced and futuristic energy storage technologies. I am proud of our employees and applaud them for the resilience they have shown and continue to do so in this pandemic.”