Eveready hikes prices of batteries by up to 9%

Battery maker Eveready Industries today said it has increased the prices of some of its products by up to 9 per cent due to high input cost.

"We are increasing the MRP (maximum retail price) of the AA batteries by Rs 0.50 with immediate effect," Eveready Industries Vice Chairman and Managing Director Deepak Khaitan said in a statement.

The company has hiked the prices of its AA range of batteries as a result of the surging input cost.

The firm said prices of key raw material used in manufacturing batteries saw an increase of around 10 per cent.

"Over the past 3-4 months there has been a continuous upward movement in the prices of nearly all raw materials used in the manufacture of dry cell batteries, which has increased the cost of batteries," he said, adding that key raw material prices have increased by 10 per cent.

The new price after the increase will be Rs 10 for the 1015 range of Type AA/R06 (used in remotes, clocks and torches) and Rs 6 for the 915 range of the Type AA/R06 (best suited for toys, cameras, torches, portable music player and CD-players).

Eveready sells around 1.2 billion units annually.

Apart from carbon zinc batteries, it also sells torches, rechageable batteries, CFL & GLS lamps and packet tea.

It has a network of 4000 distributors reaching to more than 8 lakh retail outlets directly.