Automobile

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 (14:35:12)

Tags : Singur, Blockade, Hindustan Motors, Supplies Hit

Singur road blockade hits supplies to Hindustan Motors

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Kolkata: As a traffic gridlock continued on a crucial national highway in West Bengal, another car manufacturer, Hindustan Motors, today suspended their production at their Uttarpara plant in Hooghly district. Officials of Hindustan Motors hung a notice at the main gate saying that the factory will remain closed for the day due to lack of raw materials for the past few days.

"We kept our facility closed for today giving workers a holiday. They have been asked to report on duty on Thursday," executive vice-president Moloy Chowdhury said. "Till the time supplies of spares are restored, we won't be able to start production. So we have arranged for alternate transport to ship in whatever we require by air and rail," Chowdhury said.

Hindustan Motors, which is the only automobile company in West Bengal, manufactures about 1,000 units of the Ambassador car at Uttarpara. According to Hindustan Motors' workers, the company is incurring substantial loss since raw materials like tyres and glasses, which came respectively from Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, could not reach the factory because of the blockade on National Highway 2.

The Trinamool Congress-led indefinite agitation at Singur, to press for the return to farmers the 400 acres acquired for the Tata Motors' Nano car project, has created major traffic snarl-up on National Highway 2 (Delhi Road) and Durgapur Expressway since Sunday. Earlier this month, Hindustan Motors chairman C K Birla said that the company plans to launch a commercial vehicle without specifying the launch date or its specifications.