In a bid to cut down losses due to a steep fall in two wheeler demand, Bajaj Auto has announced a four-day week at its Akurdi (Pune) plant. The decision will come into effect from September 1.Although company officials were not available for comment, it is believed that this is the beginning of the company's attempts to shut down the plant. Rajeev Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto had stated in the company's annual general meeting in July that production at Akurdi has been on a decline for some time now. Production reduced from 350,000 in 2005-06 to 50,000 in 2006-07.Bajaj had told shareholders that it was not easy to shut down a plant of a profit making company and the attempts to persuade the workers to accept voluntary retirement scheme would go on. "We will do something about it (the plant)," he had said.Bajaj Auto has been reducing the number of its employees at Akurdi through a seried of voluntary retirement schemes since the last eight years or so. It had also resorted to a four-day week in the economic slowdown of the late 1990s. The work force at Akurdi has come down from 4,500 to around 2,000 in the last few years.Presently,its motorcycles are manufactured at Valuj near Aurangabad, Chakan near Pune and Pant Nagar in Uttarakhand, while Krystal - the only scooter under its belt now - is made at Akurdi. The company's three wheeler production is concentrated at Waluj with some volumes coming from Pant Nagar as well.
