At a time when political leaders and actors in Tamil Nadu are debating the abrogation of Article 370, the state seems slipping into a deep economic crisis following the slowdown in the automobile sector. Two firms owned by Chennai-based conglomerate TVS Group—Sundaram Clayton and Lucas TVS—have announced two-day 'non-working days' for its employees citing “business slowdown across sectors”.
Indicating the deep crisis the automobile sector is facing across the country, the TVS Group's circular to its employees was released to the media as the country was celebrating its 74th Independence Day.
Sundaram Clayton, one of the leading suppliers of aluminium die castings to automotive and non-automotive sectors, has shut down its factory for two days—August 16 and 17. Located at Padi on the outskirts of Chennai, the plant has been one of the busiest with several thousand employees working in different shifts. “Sundaram - Clayton LTd (SCL), a TVS Group Company and a leading Indian manufacturer and supplier of aluminium die cast products to domestic and global automotive OEMs, has declared August 16 and 17, 2019 as non-working days for its Padi factory. This is due to business slowdown across sectors,” said a statement issued by the company.
The statement came a few days after another company of the conglomerate, Lucas TVS, declared two-day non-working days for its employees. In a statement issued to its employees, the Lucas TVS on August 13 said the company was forced to go for non-working days due to the business slowdown.
“Due to continuing business slowdown, we are forced to bring down the working days one again. Based on this, on Friday and Saturday (August 16 and 17), the WABCO, Wiper, ABS and CDC departments alone will be working. All other departments will remain closed,” read the statement. The circular further added that the company would analyse the situation and decide whether to extend the number of non-working days.
Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar has also issued a notice to its employees with a subject reading, “change in working calendar.” The notice said that its plants one and two would be shut on August 16 and 17 “due to low market demand of vehicles and high stock TKM (approximately 7,000 units)”. The notice further said that “it is necessary to carry out non-production days” for plant one and two.
