Exide Industries Ltd., the largest manufacturer of lead acid batteries in India, launched in the year 1997 the power pack of the future - the VRLA battery - a result of in-house R&D efforts and technical collaboration with M/s Shin-Kobe Electrical Co., Japan, the manufacturers of HITACHI batteries. The VRLA battery manufacturered by Exide Industries Ltd. uses AGM or "Absorbant Glass Mat" technology. The electrolyte is in absorbed condition, held within the pores of the glass mat seperator. The seperator in turn, is tightly packed in between the positive and negative plates.