Tata Motors announces block closure at Pune

Tata Motors has announced a three-day block closure at its Pimpri Chinchwad (Pune) plant.

A Tata Motors spokesperson told BusinessLine : “The external environment remains challenging, leading to demand contraction. We have aligned our production to actual demand and adjusted the number of shifts and contractual manpower.”

Company sources said this was not a complete shutdown, but block closure where some blocks will stop operations for three days while others will continue to operate. The company sources refused to share the number of workers affected because of block closure.

“Our Pune plant produces commercial and passenger vehicles. Only a few blocks are going to be shut while the rest will be operating. This is because of slowdown and managing demand and supply. This is common in OEM companies,” said the company source.

The company has communicated to employees that it will shut operations in some blocks from August 8 to August 10 for “maintenance” and also because of “low production”. The company would shoulder 50 per cent cost during the closure while the remaining 50 per cent will be adjusted against the leaves of employees.

Santosh Dalvi, General Secretary, Tata Motors Employees Union, told this paper that the union was “not worried” about the block closure. “This not new to us. It is a part of our contract signed with the company,” he said. However, sources said that earlier block closures were imposed just for maintenance but this closure was forced because of the slump.

Earlier, Tata Motors had announced a four-day block closure at its Jamshedpur plant.

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