Ruia given a week to present Dunlop India plan
On August 1, Dunlop India owner Pawan Kumar Ruia was informed he had seven days to present his plan for the tyre maker’s Sahaganj factory to the West Bengal state government. Ruia met with state labour minister Purnendu Bose and was asked to furnish a detailed report covering his intentions.
“We discussed the future of Dunlop at length,” Bose told Calcutta-based newspaper The Telegraph. Most of the clauses of the agreement, based on which Dunlop was reopened in 2006, have been flouted. Machines and tyre-manufacturing units have been dismantled under the supervision of security personnel deployed by the management. People are taking things away from the factory. The Ruias are to blame for this.”
Yet according to Ruia the truth looks different: “The plant is not closed because of labour problems but because of law-and-order-related issues,” he told reporters. “Unknown miscreants have been entering the factory every day for the past six to eight months and stealing machinery. Police have taken no action even after we lodged FIRs (First Information Report, a police document in India).”
These allegations were met with assurances from Bose that security at the factory site would improve. “I will ask the district magistrate and the local administration to ensure security for the factory. In the meantime, Ruia should prepare a detailed project report on how he plans to run the factory and submit it within a week,” he said.
It’s been almost a year since the last finished tyre emerged from the Sahaganj plant and The Telegraph says “sources close to Bose” note Ruia’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for resuming production there; they allege his interest lies in utilising the factory land for real estate development. Dunlop India has denied this allegation.
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