ADVERTISEMENT

Bajaj Auto Says Waluj Plant To Remain Operational Despite 140 Covid-19 Cases

Bajaj Auto has denied media reports that its Waluj plant in Maharashtra has been shut because of rising Covid-19 cases.

File photo: Employees work on the assembly line at the Bajaj Auto Ltd. plant in Chakan, India. (Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg)
File photo: Employees work on the assembly line at the Bajaj Auto Ltd. plant in Chakan, India. (Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg)

Bajaj Auto Ltd. said its factory in Waluj, Maharashtra, remains operational even as 140 Covid-19 cases were reported at the plant. Two of the infected workers have died.

“Post the countrywide lockdown, our Waluj facility has been ramping up operations from April 24, 2020, onwards,” Bajaj Auto’s Chief Human Resources Officer Ravi Kyran Ramasamy said in a media statement on Friday. “We have more than 8,100 employees and contractors employed in our Waluj plant. Our current incidence of 140 cases of Covid is less than 2% of our strength.”

The clarification comes after media reports suggested that the plant in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra was shut due to rising coronavirus infections. Bajaj Auto said the first case from the plant emerged on June 6. Since then, the automaker has taken measures for testing, contact tracing and sanitation as per protocol.

Two employees from the Waluj plant succumbed to the disease, Bajaj Auto said. These were due to the existence of comorbid conditions like hypertension and diabetes, it said. While the company will provide medical assistance to employees, it said shutting down operations is not an option.

We will continue our normal business operations while taking all necessary safety measures, as the alternative is to shut down our operations with ‘no work no pay’ which will have a drastic impact on our employees and supply chain.
Bajaj Auto Statement

The automaker said the company has drafted detailed cleanliness and health check protocols for its factories. These have been approved by authorities and adherence is monitored by in-house health and security staff.

Bajaj has three manufacturing plants in India. The Waluj facility mainly produces its entry-level motorcycles like Discover, Platina, CT 100, Boxer and its three-wheeler vehicles.

Shares of Bajaj Auto closed 1.48% higher, ahead of the clarification, compared with a 0.9% gains for the benchmark BSE Sensex.