City Mayor, Janab Firhad Hakim on Saturday inaugurated a foot overbridge for the citizens of Kolkata at the busy Chowringhee-AJC Bose Road intersection, popularly known as Exide crossing.
The over-bridge near the Exide head office is expected to considerably ease traffic congestion near the crossing and make it safe for thousands of pedestrians who use the busy intersection every day.
The inauguration ceremony was also attended by the KMC chairperson, Smt. Mala Roy and other government dignitaries, in the presence of Exide MD & CEO Mr. Subir Chakraborty.
Speaking on the occasion, Exide MD & CEO Mr. Subir Chakraborty said, “Exide has been proud to be not just an important member of the business community of Kolkata for the last 75 years, it has also been an integral part of the socio-cultural milieu of the city.
As such, we consider it our duty and responsibility to do our bit for the citizens and particularly for this crossing which is part of our identity as well.” He further added, “We hope pedestrians, particularly the elderly and the school-going children who come here every day will now use this safe method of crossing the busy road intersection and the administration will extend their cooperation to facilitate the same. In our Diamond Jubilee year, this is our Durga Puja gift to the City of Joy.”The 42-meter-long FOB is a social initiative of Exide in which it has sponsored close to Rs 5 crores.
The bridge, spanning the two sides of Asutosh Mukherjee Road, was constructed by the city-based engineering company Titagarh Wagons Ltd. For the convenience of people, the over-bridge has an escalator as well as a normal staircase on each side of the bridge. The structure will be maintained for the next 30 years by Exide Industries Limited.
About Exide Industries Limited:
For more than seven decades, Exide has been one of India’s most reliable battery brands, enjoying unrivalled reputation and recall. Exide designs, manufactures, markets, and sells the widest range of lead acid storage batteries in the world from 2.5Ah to 20,000Ah capacity, to cover the broadest spectrum of applications.
The batteries are manufactured for automotive, power, telecom, infrastructure projects, computer industries, as well as for railways, mining, and defence sectors. The company enjoys leadership position in India and its exports span 60 countries across six continents.
Exide has forayed into manufacturing of lithium-ion battery modules and packs through its subsidiary Exide Leclanche Energy Private Limited (under the brand Nexcharge) for India’s electric vehicle market and stationary applications.
Further, Exide has set up a new wholly owned subsidiary – Exide Energy Solutions Limited - and is in the process of setting a plant under the subsidiary for lithium-ion cell manufacturing business.