Maruti's Manesar plant closed for third day

Production loss has so far mounted to about Rs 210 crore, and in terms of value, per day loss is about Rs 70 crore

Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar plant will remain closed for the third day today after the violence on Wednesday in which one senior company official was killed, while the police has said most of the workers who instigated the incident have been identified.

"The plant will remain closed today," a company spokesperson said.

The production loss has so far mounted to about Rs 210 crore. The plant rolls out about 1,600 units per day. In terms of value, the per day loss is about Rs 70 crore.

Meanwhile, the police said it has identified most of the workers who instigated the violence.

"No further arrests have been made so far but we have identified majority of the workers who instigated other workers and committed the crime," DCP Gurgaon Maheshwar Dayal told PTI.

He said most of them are union leaders and executive members of the workers union who were having negotiations with management officials prior to the incident.

Already 91 employees, who were arrested, have been remanded to 14 days judicial custody on Thursday by a local magistrate.

Yesterday, the company management had said it would not compromise on violence and was considering lockout of the plant as one of the options for now.

"Suzuki Motor Corp has asked us not to compromise on violence...We are cooperating with the police and district administration in the investigations...If this is found to be planned and orchestrated from outside, I can't accept this," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Managing Director Shinzo Nakanishi had said.

However, MSI Chief Operating Officer (Administration) S Y Siddiqui said while in the long term the company was committed to the smooth operations of the plant at Manesar, "in the short term we are considering various options, including a lockout".