FMCG majors HUL and Nestle India on Tuesday said all of their manufacturing plants have resumed operations but are unable to utilise full capacities due to restrictions on the movement of workers by local authorities in various states and lesser staff deployment at factories.
Both the companies said they are working with local authorities and the state governments to ease the restrictions so that plants can operate in full capacity.
"Most of our factories, many of our distribution centres and majority of our suppliers are operating, but in general, not at their full capacity," a HUL spokesperson told PTI when asked about the status of operations at the company's plants.
Explaining why the plants are not fully functioning, the spokesperson said, "We continue to face local or state restrictions in the movement of our people who are working in the essential goods supply chain".
"We continue to work with local and state government authorities to get our operations towards the required capacity that the people in our country expect from us."
Nestle India, which manufactures popular instant noodles Maggi, Nescafe coffee, Cereal infant cereal and KitKat chocolate, also said its plants have become operational but at a scaled down level due to restrictions imposed by local authorities and state governments.
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The company said it has received permission to operate all units along with distribution centre, warehouse and suppliers, but are on scaled down operations.
"The scaled down operations at various locations are essentially on account of applicable social distancing norms and the lesser deployment of people.
"The scaling up, scaling down or suspension of operations at various locations is dependent on the directions of the Central and State Governments and authorities," Nestle India said in a regulatory filing.
Nestle India said it is "closely monitoring the situation and will take all necessary measures as directed by the Central and State Governments and authorities, from time to time".
However, the company said it can not access the impact of coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown on the company at this time.
Nestle India, a subsidiary of NESTLE SA of Switzerland, operates eight factories in India.
HUL said that to optimise its available man power resources, it has shifted to larger order sizes and direct shipping from factories but that is not sufficient to meet demand.
"We have moved to larger order sizes and direct shipping from factories to compensate, but this is far from efficient," said the HUL spokesperson.
HUL, a subsidiary of UK-based FMCG major Unilever, owns popular house hold FMCG brands, which includes Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Pond's, Vaseline, Lakme, Dove, Pepsodent, Brooke Bond and Kissan.
The company owns 28 factories producing its goods from categories such as beauty and personal care, home care and food & refreshment.
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