With the safety and well-being of its employees as top priority, in view of the escalating COVID-19 situation, Hero MotoCorp on Sunday said it has decided to halt operations at all its global manufacturing facilities.

The company will shut down its manufacturing in India, Colombia and Bangladesh - and the Global Parts Centre (GPC) at Neemrana with immediate effect until March 31.

Employees at all the other functions and locations including the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan will continue to work from home, except for those whose physical presence is necessary to run the day-to-day essential services, the company said in a statement.

"Hero MotoCorp has been proactively monitoring the situation since the early stages of the breakout of COVID-19, and had rolled-out a slew of measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its employees and also, thereby to help contain the spread of the Coronavirus," it said.

Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Hero MotoCorp has set up a task force and is constantly monitoring the developments through regular video conferencing and tele-meetings to ensure that safety and business-continuity plans are up-to-date and effective, it added.

Apart from Hero MotoCorp, Maharashtra-based companies such as Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors have also announced to suspend productions till March 31.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), together with Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited (FIAPL) - FCA’s joint venture manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, also announced that it will temporarily close operations and suspend production to protect the health and safety of employees.

"The temporary suspension, which will be in effect until 31 March, is in response to the increasing prevalence of positive COVID-19 cases in the state of Maharashtra and particularly in Pune," the company said on Sunday.

Other leading automobile companies such as Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India has not announced such steps till now.

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