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NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki today declared a lockout at the violence-hit Manesar plant, stating it cannot risk life and safety of its employees. "There is now a lockout. To me, what is more important is safety of my colleagues than producing some cars to make some money," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) chairman RC Bhargava said at a press conference here.

MSI general manager (human resource) Awanish Kumar Dev was burnt to death and about 90 officials and supervisors were injured when violence broke out at Manesar plant in Haryana on July 18. He said production will not resume till investigation into the incident is completed and corrective steps are taken to ensure that there is no recurrence of violence which came as "shocker" to the company.

Whether there was any plan to shift the production facility to an alternate site, he said, "Talks of Maruti unit moving out of Manesar is an absolute fiction ... We are not moving the plant out of Manesar. Maruti is flag-bearer of industrialization in Haryana."
s Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is visiting Japan from tomorrow, there was speculation that MSI might shift the Manesar facility to Gujarat where it has already announced expansion plans. With about 3,000 workforce, the Manesar plant produces some of the best selling models. The vehicles produced there include SX4, Swift, Dzire and A-Star.

Bhargava said the MSI management has requested the Haryana Government to expedite the inquiry into the incident. Besides, the company will have its own probe. Asked whether some workers involved in the incident can be taken back, he said,"if guys are no risks they can be taken back; if they are cause of trouble, they cannot come back".

Asked how long the lockout will continue he said, "Maruti is not closed... we will be very inefficient if we take six months. I don’t think we are that bad ... we will start at Manesar".

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Maruti’s Manesar plant closed for third day, Rs 210cr loss so far

MANESAR: Maruti Suzuki India’s Manesar plant remained closed for the third day on Saturday after the violence on Wednesday in which one senior company official was killed, while police said most of the workers who instigated the incident have been identified.

"The plant will remain closed today," a company spokesperson said. The production loss has so far mounted to about Rs 210 crore. The plant rolls out about 1,600 units per day. In terms of value, the per day loss is about Rs 70 crore.

Meanwhile, the police said it has identified most of the workers who instigated the violence. "No further arrests have been made so far but we have identified majority of the workers who instigated other workers and committed the crime," DCP Gurgaon Maheshwar Dayal told PTI.

He said most of them are union leaders and executive members of the workers union who were having negotiations with management officials prior to the incident. Already 91 employees, who were arrested, have been remanded to 14 days judicial custody on Thursday by a local magistrate.

Yesterday, the company management had said it would not compromise on violence and was considering lockout of the plant as one of the options for now.

"Suzuki Motor Corp has asked us not to compromise on violence...we are cooperating with the police and district administration in the investigations... if this is found to be planned and orchestrated from outside, I can’t accept this," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Managing Director Shinzo Nakanishi had said.

However, MSI Chief Operating Officer (Administration) S Y Siddiqui said while in the long term the company was committed to the smooth operations of the plant at Manesar, "in the short term we are considering various options, including a lockout".