Maruti Suzuki is yet to firm up the date for restarting operations at its Manesar plant, which has been under lockout for almost a month.
The company will take a call on lifting the lockout at the Manesar facility by Thursday or Friday, a senior official told Business Line .
According to sources, operations at the plant are likely to start next week ( from August 20). Maruti is likely to start with the production of the Swift at the highly automated Plant B, following up soon after by Plant A that makes the Dzire, A-Star and the SX4 sedan.
S. Y. Siddiqui, COO, Administration (HR, IT), said that the investigation into the violence of July 18 was discussed with senior company officials and the Police on Monday. The clash left an official dead and 96 injured.
“We will take a call on when to lift the lockout by Thursday or Friday. We will also then take a call on which section of workers we can call back for starting production,” he said.
With 137 workers arrested and the number set to increase with the investigation’s progress, finding new workers to start operations at Manesar may prove a challenge. Company officials said that some workers may be shifted from the Gurgaon facility.
The car market leader is expected to face a production loss of about 47,000 units and a revenue loss of around Rs 2,700 crore following the month-long closure of the plant.
With the festival season demand round the corner, the company’s market share in the passenger vehicle segment, about 40 per cent in April-June quarter, may also take a temporary hit of 2 percentage points.