As the pandemic assumes disastrous proportions in India and lockdown restrictions become widespread, automobile majors have commenced shutting down their plants, SteelOrbis has learned from industry circles on Wednesday, April 28.
MG Motors India Limited has announced that it will shut down its plant in the western state of Gujarat, initially for seven days to protect its employees.
The plant has an annual production capacity of 80,000 units with employee strength of 1500.
Two wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp has announced that it is closing down all its six manufacturing units across the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, but no information is available on the duration of such a closure.
Toyota Kirloskar Motors Limited has announced the closure of its passenger car manufacturing plant in the southern state of Karnataka between April 26 and May 14. However, officially the company maintained that this is a routine maintenance closure.
Sources said that the country’s largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki is planning to reduce shifts at its operational production lines at its two plants in Haryana in the north in response to stringent lockdown conditions and fears of a fall in demand.
Though no official commented on the possible closure of plants, R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, in a statement last week had said, “If there is a prolonged lockdown, factories cannot run when dealerships are closed.”