Prakash Katama, head of Nokia India’s factory in Sriperumbudur, has quit. He is being replaced by V Sembian, formerly head of product and process engineering at the plant.
Katama will stay with Nokia in a consultancy role for a fixed period. He has been with the company for nearly 14 years, and as head of the plant for around five years, said a Nokia India spokesperson.
His resignation comes in the midst of the prevailing uncertainty in the plant as Income Tax department froze Nokia India’s assets last year over a tax dispute. The tax issue needs to be resolved soon to enable Nokia transfer the asset to Microsoft as part of a $7.4-billion global deal.
Nokia is also involved in a sales tax dispute with the Tamil Nadu government.
Meanwhile, a source in Nokia India Thozilalar Sangam, an independent union under the leadership of A. Soundararajan of Centre of Indian Trade Union, alleged that the Nokia India management is forcing its members to sign a Voluntary Retirement Scheme offered by the company last week.
However, a company official denied this allegation. The VRS is purely voluntary, the spokesperson said.