Industry confused about guidelines

Major manufacturing companies have urged the Center to clarify the guidelines of the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry and give some more relaxation in the rules. The new guidelines contain broad guidelines for starting most industries and factories slowly, but the conditions are very strict for this.

For example, automobile company Maruti Suzuki is trying to find out how many of its 350 to 360 vendors and medium and small suppliers are located in the Red Zone. The company wants to know if these units are closed, then they may have some alternative source of supply. RC Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki, said, "We are examining in detail how many of our direct and indirect vendors may be in the Red Zone, where factories cannot be opened." If this happens, we will have to find alternative suppliers because we cannot make cars without components. '

Bhargava said that another issue is that some dealers of Maruti will also have to open showrooms. He said, 'We also have to sell our cars. Only after this investigation, we will decide and the few days the government has given in between will help us prepare. Maruti has already prepared a plan for the safety and cleanliness of its workers and factories.

The government has issued guidelines to open factories only in industrial areas and industrial townships, so Siam, the vehicle manufacturers 'association and the auto component manufacturers' ecma, are asking their members whether they will be allowed to open the factory or not.

A senior Saiam official said, "Many of our members and suppliers are not in industrial areas or townships." In such a situation, if the factories of the original equipment manufacturers are in the industrial area, but the vendors are not there, how can the product be started?

Many are demanding a slight change in the guideline so that production can begin as soon as possible. Volkswagen Group Managing Director Gurpratap Boparai said, 'In large plants like ours, thousands of workers work and 5-7 thousand workers are also vendors. In such a situation, it is not possible to accommodate all of them inside or around the factory. Accommodation in areas like Chakan is also not sufficient. It would not be practical to place workers of big factories like ours in the factory premises there. Along with this, the rule is that all workers will have to be verified by the police, which will take weeks and there will be delay in opening the plant. It would have been easy had the company been given permission to verify them.

Boparay of Volkswagen Group said that they are awaiting further clarity on this. The guidelines state that factories will not be allowed to open in the most affected areas. It is not yet clear whether the entire district (Chakan is in Pune district which is the Red Zone) will be closed due to the Containment Zone or only the Containment Zone will be closed. If the Containment Zone means all red zones or districts, then they will not be able to open their factory.

Companies such as tire maker Ceat Ltd say that they will decide to open their units across the country on a case-to-case basis. SIET Chief Finance Officer Kumar Subaiah said, "This decision will be taken after careful consideration." We hastily shut down our units and some goods are half ready or have to be sold or sold in junk. We have some stock in the warehouse as well and will have to be sold before production starts. Apart from this, we also have to fulfill orders for exports. If the government gives permission, we will make as much merchandise as we can and sell it where there is demand. He also said that capacity would not be fully utilized due to social distance and presence of fewer workers and meeting operational costs would always be a major challenge. Raju B. Ketkale, deputy manning director of Evers Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said that the cost of manufacturing would certainly increase if capacity was not fully utilized. The company has plans to start production in its plants in a phased manner and believes that it will take some time for workers to return to its unit in Bangalore.

Due to the lockdown, limited production was being done in the steel plants but now preparations are on to increase production there too. The steel industry was also allowed to continue its work in lockdown.