Royal Enfield, TVS Motor Resume Production At Plants With Minimal Staff
While Royal Enfield has restarted production at one plant, TVS Motor is resuming production at all its facilities in India.
Chennai-based two-wheeler firms, Eicher Motors Ltd.’s Royal Enfield and TVS Motor Co. Ltd., have restarted production at their plants, as India gradually exited the world’s strictest lockdown to revive economic activity in the country.
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. will also resume operations at its Manesar plant in Haryana from May 12. It has also reopened 600 dealerships across the country, and started online boooking and doorstep deliveries for its vehicles.
Royal Enfield
Out of its three manufacturing facilities at Oragadam, Thiruvottiyur and Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, Royal Enfield has chosen to restart operations at Oragadam with minimal staff working on single shift. Operations at the other two facilities would resume in a phased manner, the company said.
According to the bikemaker, employees and shop-floor staff residing near the facilities would be "aligned" to work in the respective units to avoid long-distance travel and minimise contact during transportation. "There will be complete compliance to norms of social distancing and workplace sanitisation", Royal Enfield said.
The company's corporate offices in Chennai, Gurugram and the U.K. Technical Centre would remain closed, and employees would continue to work from home "as of now".
Royal Enfield's dealerships have begun partial operations, the company said, adding that around 300 of them were expected to be operational by mid-May, adhering to all safety norms. "The company would offer facilities like at home test rides to follow preventive safety measures", it said.
Royal Enfield had suspended production at its facilities on March 23 in line with government directives on lockdown to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
TVS Motor
TVS Motor, on the other hand, has restarted operations across all its factories—in Hosur and Mysuru in Karnataka and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh.
"A comprehensive preparedness manual has been designed for employees to ensure complete adherence to necessary safety guidelines to help minimise the spread of the virus," TVS Motor said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company has undertaken exhaustive measures at its all facilities to ensure safe workplace for employees with appropriate social distancing and highest standards of hygiene, it added.
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‘Work from Home' option also continues for certain category of people, in adherence to respective state government guidelines, the company said.