Foundry & forging units in West Bengal hit by global slowdown and war

The last of a three-part series on export slowdown is a report from the forging & foundry units in Howrah, to assess the losses and job cuts

It’s a Durga Puja that Sanjib Hazra would rather forget. The orders from the US slowed down at the engineering product manufacturing unit in Howrah where he works, translating into lower production and in turn, wages.

Hazra doesn’t know why business slackened, but till about two months back, it all seemed fine. “We were working 12 hours a day and now it’s down to eight hours.”

 The stress is not just confined to the unit in which Hazra works — hundreds of units in Howrah, the hub of forging and foundry, in West Bengal, are feeling the heat of the