• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Ambar Singh Roy

A security official keeps guard at the closed gates of Philips India Ltd's Enabling Technologies Group unit in Kolkata on Tuesday. Production at this unit has been terminated from end March and the 130 employees of this unit have opted for VRS.

KOLKATA, April 2

PHILIPS India Ltd has suspended operations at its Enabling Technology Group factory here. This follows the acceptance of a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) by all the 130 employees working in the factory, which has been manufacturing plastic parts for over 30 years now.

According to informed sources, the unit has not been economically viable for some years now. Various options, including its sale as a going concern, were explored in the past but did not yield the desired results. As such, it was decided to offer a VRS package to employees working in the factory.

"Since the unit was not viable, we offered VRS to our employees who in turn deemed it prudent to accept the offer and look for career options elsewhere," the sources said, adding that communication channels with the employees were maintained all along and the unions were taken into confidence too.

The turnover of the unit was pegged at Rs 12 crore in the last accounting year — or about 0.8 per cent of the Philips' India's annual turnover.

The sources said there was no firm plan to begin any new manufacturing activity at the factory location here. However, the issue of what to do with the equipment installed at the factory here was currently being discussed.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
IOC may not pass on post-APM gains -- To add `value' to retail outlets

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line