Industrial and automotive battery maker Exide Industries Ltd. plans to spend Rs 300 crore on expansion of its production capacity, besides entering new overseas markets.

The company will invest Rs 300 crore this year, out of which Rs 150 crore would be invested in two of its plants in West Bengal, while the rest would be injected in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The company will fund the entire investment through internal accruals.

To boost its exports, the company has identified new overseas markets, including Europe, South Africa and the Middle East for its tubular batteries, which are used in UPS systems. The company sees tremendous potential for its batteries in these countries. The company plans to double its exports to Rs 500 crore in 2008-09.

The company, which is aiming at sales of Rs 4,500 crore in 2008-09, gets 55% of revenue from automotive batteries and 45% from industrial batteries.