Promoted by S R Jiwarajka and Matsushita Electrical Company, Japan, in 1972, Indo National (INL) was formally created and deployed as a legal entity as a public limited company. It manufactures Nippo brand dry cell batteries. Matsushita holds 40% of INL's equity. The Indian partner is Obul Reddy. The company has already diversified into the sale of flashlights under the Nippo brand. INL's R&D department has successfully engineered batteries for India's defence forces. It has obtained governments permission to manufacture 20,000 sets of tape-recorder-cum-transistors.

INL recently added two types of high-performance batteries to its existing brands--UM-3 Premium Gold and UM-1 Mega Super. The UM-3 is meant for walkmans and cameras. The UM-3 has 50% more power compared to the company's Nippo brand and has a longer shelf life of 24 months. The UM-1 mega cells find application in toys and cassette recorders.

The company has obtained ISO 9001 certification from TUV CERT certification body of Rheinisch-Westfalischer TUV e.v., for design development, production and sales of Dry Cell Batteries. It is also planning to import alkaline and lithium batteries under the Panasonic brand for marketing in the country.

During 2001-02 the Paper Seperator project was completed successfully at a cost of Rs.3.36 crores which was met out of internal accruals. This is an important component in the manufacture of UM-3 batteries.