E-Commerce In India Seen At Rs 40000 Crore By 2003

Tata Steel is looking at downsizing its workforce by another 5,000 employees in financial year 2000-01 through its early separation scheme (ESS).

As on April 1, 2000, the steel major's total employee strength would be less than 54,000, against the targeted 55,000 for the current fiscal. This has been possible primarily as a result of the phase-wise closure of non-viable units.

"We had targeted a workforce of 55,000 by the end of this year, but were able to achieve downsizing by an additional 1,000 because of the sale of the cement plant," a company official said.

The facilities which have been closed down so far are steel melting shop III, rolling mill I, narrow strip mills, seamless plant in the tubes division and sheet mills.

According to the official, this more or less covers the facilities which had been earmarked for closure as a measure to streamline operations.

Next year, the focus would therefore shift to flab-trimming in the existing facilities and divisions, and the township area would be an important point for downsizing.

"Tata Steel has been receiving a lot of offers from external organisations, including missionaries, to take up part of the educational services, and they are being actively encouraged by the company. Next year would hopefully see more outsourcing of service facilities in this area," the official said.

Another area which would be tackled in the coming year is the per