Britannia Sewri unit gets closure nod

Many companies allowed to shut down following a shift in policy

Closure of industrial units continues unabated in Maharashtra. The latest in the series is Britannia Biscuits' south Mumbai plant located at Sewri.

The labour commissioner has permitted the winding up of the plant in the last week of March.

Three more units "" Nobel Explochem of Nagpur, Simplex Mills of central Mumbai and Hindustan Composite, firm in the a northeastern suburb of Mumbai) "" have sought permission from the joint labour commissioner M B Gajre to close down.

Gajre, who holds the additional charge of labour commissioner, said, "I have referred the Britannia issue to the industrial tribunal. The tribunal may uphold or reject my closure order."

The Sewri plant, which employs over 300 people, cited loss in operations and financial difficulties for the closure.

The labour commissioner had in September permitted the closure of Hindustan Crown Mills.

In December 2003, closure permissions had been given to Mukund Engineering (Mumbai city), Shalimar Wires (Nasik) and the glass division of Tilak Nagar Distilleries (Ahmednagar).

However, applications for closure submitted by Golden Chemicals' unit at Dahisar and Mam Forge (Bhandup) were rejected.

The spate of closure permissions comes in the wake of a shift in the Maharashtra government's unofficial policy of not allowing companies to close down.

Gajre said illegal closures of plants and units became rampant after several establishments failed to secure proper closure orders from authorities. While granting closure permission, workers' dues are treated on a par with the dues to secured creditors.

"It is noticed that by disallowing factories to close down, we are not able to protect workers' interests. The units stop paying electricity bills. Then their power connection will be cut, resulting in stoppage of production. Workers' dues remain unpaid as litigation in industrial and labour courts takes years to settle," Gajre said.