Maruti's Manesar unrest: Top brass to meet Haryana chief minister today

A mahapanchayat of villages around the Maruti plant in Manesar has voiced support for the company and asked it not to relocate. Village elders have asked Maruti to begin production again at the plant, which has been locked-out since the riots of July 18.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will meet Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi in Delhi today.  Industries minister Randeep Surjewala will also be part of the Haryana government team. This will be the first formal interaction between the government and the company after the violence forced Maruti to shut down the plant.

Central intelligence agencies and the Haryana police have said they have not found any evidence so far to link the violence at the Manesar factory to any Maoist organisation. There have been apprehensions about Maoists making inroads into urban areas and especially in trade unions.

Six more workers were arrested on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the arson and rioting at the plant on July 18, taking the number of those detained to 97. They will be produced in a court today.

A senior manager was killed in last week's deadly riot. Many other senior officials were severely beaten up, allegedly by angry workers; 24 senior managers are still in hospital with injuries, mainly fractures of their arms and legs, of the 96 initially admitted after the riot. No workers were injured during the violence, Maruti executives said.

The lockout is costing the company nearly Rs 80 crore a day. The Manesar factory's total annual capacity of 550,000 cars produces a third of Maruti's output.

Maruti has two plants in Haryana - one in Manesar and one in Gurgaon. The plant where the riots took place produces 1,700 units of Swift, Dzire, A-Star among other models every day.

Maruti officials have denied reports that the company is likely to close the Manesar plant, where the company builds its best-selling Swift hatchback - the runaway leader in its segment. Chairman Bhargava has said the company will not be able to offset some of the lost production with imports or by increasing productivity at its other factory.

Maruti shares fell 5 per cent after markets opened today. More than Rs. 3,192 crore was wiped off Maruti's market value on Thursday when its shares slid to their biggest one-day drop in two years. Shares of the parent Suzuki Motor Corp fell a total of 5.7 per cent in trading on Thursday and Friday to their lowest level in three-and-a-half years.

Suzuki executives say they are keen to establish Gujarat as their exports hub by 2015. In June 2012, the Gujarat government had allocated around 700 acres for Maruti's proposed plant near Mehsana. Maruti had said it would invest Rs. 4,000 crore to set up the new manufacturing facility in Gujarat by 2015.