Rains apply brakes on GM's Halol facility

Production was halted at the Halol plant of General Motors (GM) in Gujarat due to heavy rains that lashed the state, a senior company official has said.

"Production has been affected since Monday and had to be halted on Wednesday due to the rains, though things are gradually limping back to normal," General Motors India vice-president P Balendran said.

Balendran said daily production at the plant was 172 vehicles, and added that sales and movement of finished products was severely hit due to the rains.

"We could manage just one shift of production on Monday and Tuesday and it had to be fully suspended on Wednesday. Even today, the first shift was hit," he said.

Balendran said sales of the company would be affected in August as Gujarat, Maharashtra, two of the big markets, were hit hard by the heavy rains. "Even Andhra Pradesh is reeling under heavy rains and sales will be impacted," he said.

He said while the plant was not affected by the rains, water had entered the stockyard area.

"We are taking care of the problem and it will be sorted out soon," he said, adding that no estimate had been done so far of the damages or financial losses.

General Motors India, a fully-owned subsidiary of US car major General Motor, announced last week that it would set up a second manufacturing plant in India in Maharashtra and will invest over $300 million for the greenfield project.