India Inc condemns Maruti Suzuki fire incident

India Inc Friday condemned the violence perpetrated allegedly by Maruti Suzuki workers in the car maker’s Manesar plant and said the incident could negatively impact the investment climate in the country.

The automotive component manufacturers association said the incident will have a negative impact on the growth prospects of the industry.

“While the entire Indian economy is passing through turbulent times, the automotive industry has been a beacon of hope for industrial growth and job creation in the country,” said Arvind Kapur, president, Automotive Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).

“There should be a conducive business environment, which is mutually beneficial for the growth and development of both the employers and the employees,” Kapur added.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) too came out strongly against the incident and called upon the state government to initiate strong action against the perpetrators.

“CII strongly recommends that state of Haryana should administer this effectively and enforce law and order so that such incidence would not be repeated,” said Malvinder Singh, chairman, CII northern region and executive chairman, Fortis Healthcare.

Singh said the incident may impact the investment climate in India in the short run.

The government of Japan also deplored the violence by the group of workers. The company has accused the workers for sparking the fire.

“We strongly hope that the state of Haryana would administer, according to law, prompt and just punishment to the perpetrators and effectively enforce law and order so that such incidence would not be repeated in the future,” said a statement from the Japanese embassy.

Maruti is a subsidiary of Japanese automaker Suzuki Corporation.

“We expect that the Manesar plant will resume its operations and normalcy will be recovered at the earliest,” it added.

The Harayana government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which will probe Wednesday’s incident. The police has arrested 99 workers on charges such as murder, attempt to murder and several other offences.

The Manesar plant, which manufactures some 1,200 cars per day on an average, has been specially designed for manufacturing diesel cars. Work at the plant had stopped following the violence.

Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon plant is operating normally.

In September and October 2011, production at Manesar plant was severely effected due to labour unrest. Later, in the first week of November the then union leaders had resigned after accepting hefty dues.

The current labour union (Maruti Suzuki Workers Union) headed by Rameshwar Singh was formed in March this year.

Photo : AFP