Ex-gratia announced for Jessop, Dunlop employees

The West Bengal government, which has passed a bill to take over the ailing industrial units Dunlop and Jessop, on Monday announced a monthly ex gratia of Rs.10,000 to the employees.

"Employees of both Jessop and Dunlop, who are in the master rolls, will get a monthly ex gratia of Rs.10,000. The whole process of takeover is being overseen by the State Industrial Reconstruction Department," state Finance and Industries Minister Amit Mitra said here.

"Around 1,000 workers of both the units will be benefitted," he added.

Ahead of the crucial assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee On Friday announced her government's decision to take over engineering firm Jessop and tyre maker Dunlop India. On Saturday, two bills were passed in the state assembly for taking over the industrial units run by the Pawan Ruia Group.

India's oldest engineering company, the 228-year old Jessop has in the past built iconic structures like the Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Bridge over the Hooghly.

Ruia ventured into the tyre industry in 2005 by buying Dunlop India Ltd from Manohar Rajaram Chhabria's family in late 2005.

Both of Dunlop's plants at Sahagunj in Hooghly district and Ambattur in Tamil Nadu are shut for quite some time.

The Ruia Group had tried to open both Jessop and Dunlop from time to time, but could not sustain the tempo for long.