The unit 2 of the air conditioner manufacturing facility of Hitachi Home & Life Solutions (India) Ltd (HHLI), a subsidiary of Hitachi Appliance Inc, Japan, was rendered inoperable following a major fire.
There were no human casualties in the incident at the unit located in Kadi town of Mehsana district, however, an inquiry has been instituted to know the cause of the fire which had virtually destroyed the entire unit 2 of the facility.
"Last night (Wednesday) there was a major fire at unit no. 2 at Kadi plant, Gujarat and due to which it has become non-operational. Unit 1 at Kadi plant and Jammu plants are operational. There is no human casualty," the company informed in a statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday morning.
The company's manufacturing facility at Kadi, is among the ten Hitachi air conditioner facilities worldwide.
HHLI makes AC racks at the unit no. 2, which was engulfed in fire on Wednesday late night. The fire gutted the entire unit no. 2 causing extensive damage and rendering it inoperable, a company spokesperson said.
Over 20 fire-tenders were called-in from surrounding stations including Ahmedabad, Kadi, Kalol, Gandhinagar, Mehsana and ONGC fire depot, a fire official stated.
"The damage was 100 per cent and the unit no 2 was completely gutted in the fire. It took more than seven hours to bring the fire under control. The cause of the fire was not yet known," fire officials said.
The incident has also prompted company to look for alternate location to carry out its operations.
"We are considering to shift a part of production to the alternate location. A final decision is yet to be made on this," said a company official.
