Relief undertaking to Dunlop only after it reopens: Minister

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SME Times News Bureau | 20 Oct, 2011
The West Bengal government Wednesday said it will approve a relief undertaking sought by tyre maker Dunlop India Limited (DIL) only after the management reopens its Sahaganj factory in Hooghly district and takes measures to run the plant.

Talks between tyre maker DIL, a Pawan Ruia-owned company, and the state government on reopening the factory failed to make any headway Oct 10, even as the government asked the company to immediately withdraw its suspension of work notice.

The company management put up suspension of work notice at the factory gate Oct 7 night, five months after a temporary shut-down in April. About 900 workers are employed at the unit.

The company has alleged anti-social activities and vandalism by a section of workers, exorbitant conversion cost, hefty increase in raw material prices without corresponding increase in tyre prices, continuous losses and cash crunch for its inability to run the factory.

It has demanded for benefit of relief undertaking from the state government.

The state cabinet Wednesday discussed the Dunlop fiasco, among other things.

"We have discussed whether benefit of relief undertaking to Dunlop can be given. They had applied for that. We will approve the subject when we will see that the doors of the factory are opening and the management has taken measures to run it," state Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the cabinet meeting at the state Secretariat here.

Dunlop, which the Ruia Group acquired in 2006, has two plants - at Ambattur near Chennai, and Sahagunj. While the Ambattur plant is operational, there has been no production in Sahagunj plant for the last ten months.