Coronavirus lockdown: Maruti Suzuki resumes operations at Manesar plant after more than 40 days

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Tuesday said that it has resumed operations at its Manesar plant in Haryana after over 40-day closure due to coronavirus lockdown. The production had been halted at both Manesar and Gurugram facilities since March 22. The operations have started on a single shift basis with up to 75 percent employees allowed currently, news agency PTI reported. The manufacturing at Gurugram plant would also restart soon, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava told PTI. "Production has commenced at the Manesar plant and the first car would roll out today (Tuesday)," he also said.

On the timeline of full-swing operations, Bhargava said that would depend on government regulations such as when two shifts would be allowed, manpower could be increased and supply chain would become fitter. Country's largest automaker on March 23 announced that it has stopped production of vehicles at its various plants as a precaution against the spread of life-threatening coronavirus.

On April 22, the Haryana government had issued permission to the company to restart its Manesar manufacturing facility. However, it said that it will resume operations only when it can maintain continuous production and sell vehicles, "which is not possible at this point of time".

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki's production fell by 32 per cent in March amid the nationwide lockdown which began in the last week of the month. A total of 92,540 units were produced by the country's largest carmaker in March compared to 1,36,201 units in the year-ago period, Maruti Suzuki had said in an exchange filing. India's export sector could lose nearly 15 million jobs amid the lockdown, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) told the government in April.

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