• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Alka Kshirsagar

Pune, Nov. 12 A lower demand for their products from an auto industry in the grip of a slowdown, coupled with higher cost of production on account of irregular power supply is dealing out a double whammy to the small- and medium-scale industries in the Pune industrial belt.

Nearly 60 per cent of the 6,500-odd units in Pimpri, Chinchwad, Talewade, Chikhli and Bhosari, which broadly form this belt, are auto component manufacturers who supply to a host of auto and allied manufacturers, including majors like Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, General Motors and John Deere.

“Their production has dropped by nearly 50 per cent over the last two months or so,” says Mr Suresh Mhetre, President of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Small Industries Association, an umbrella organisation with a membership of nearly 3,000 units.

Adding to their troubles is the fact that power supply is erratic. For some time now, the units here have already made changes in their working schedules, observing a weekly closure that begins at 4 p.m. on Thursdays till midnight of Friday.

More Stories on : Automobile Components | Maharashtra

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line