Dunlop shuts down Bengal plant

Kolkata: The global economic crisis is being felt nearer home too. Dunlop's Sahagunj factory in West Bengal has been closed down indefinitely and 1,200 workers asked not to report to work from Tuesday.

Company sources say the company is running short of working capital due to the economic slowdown and negotiations are on with banks and financial institutions.

The plan for economic revival of the renowned tyre company has also received a beating due to the ongoing slowdown.

Company sources say the banks are not in a position to provide the amount of money required to run the factory so the workers have been told they will be provided Rs 2000 per month till the company reopens. But sources say it's unlikely that the company will reopen very soon.

Dunlop Board of Directors are meeting on Tuesday and then they will decide what will happen to the other plants.

The workers are agitating because the factory opened two years back on January 14, 2007 after almost five years.

The Sahagunj plant has a capacity of producing 90 tonnes per day.

Kolkata-based businessman Pawan Kumar Ruia had bought over the ailing tyre company from Manohar Rajaram Chhabria’s family in late 2005.

Dunlop's other factory is in Ambattur on the outskirts of Chennai.

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