By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Birla Tyres, a unit of the BK Birla Group company Kesoram Industries, closed down its plant in Orissa temporarily for the third time for a fortnight on account of poor market conditions, a company official said Monday.
The factory will remain closed till Feb 28 because there is no market demand, a senior plant official told IANS over phone on condition of anonymity.
The unit located at Balasore town, some 200 km from here, was earlier closed for about 15 days in December and 13 days in January. It resumed production Feb 1.
Rajendra Bal, a leader of Birla Tyres workers union, said the workers of the factory will stage an indefinite protest in front of the closed factory from Thursday.
“We are planning to file a case against the company and the state government tomorrow (Tuesday) against this illegal shut down,” Bal told IANS over phone from Balasore.
The unit employs around 2,200 people. Set up to manufacture automobile tyres, tubes and flaps, it started commercial production in March 1992.
According to the company, the unit has an installed capacity of 1.50 million tyres, tubes and flaps per year. Approximately, 30 percent of its production is exported to 43 countries.