A handful of industries from across Tamil Nadu commenced operations with skeletal staff on Monday, after being shut since March 25 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Another section of industries opened their premises and ensured that they were fully sanitised before employees report for duty this week. A few firms indicated that they will gradually resume operations in the coming weeks in a phased manner.
“We have started production,” S. Ravi Shankar, GM - Manufacturing, LOTTE India Corporation Limited, said on Monday. Of a total of 220 employees, only 70 were on the work site, maintaining physical distancing norms. Some employees, who stay 60-70 km away from the workplace, were given accommodation in the company guest house to avoid commute, he added. “We started [operations] with 10% of our people on Monday,” said, M. Manickam, chairman of Sakthi Automobile Components, a firm which supplies critical components to car manufacturers. “We have taken adequate precautions,” he added.
Automobile firms said they were making arrangements for physical distancing, and after that, they will announce the opening dates. But a few players, who fall under a containment zone, said they needed to wait longer. A senior official from one of the automobile firms said they were making certain alterations to the shop floor so that social distancing could be maintained. “We will call employees for work only after we make sure that the factory is following all protocols issued by the government,” he added. V.G. Sakthikumar, managing director of SCHWING Stetter India Pvt Ltd, said the firm will resume operations from May 6. He added, “We are awaiting approval through the government portal. But the portal has technical issues. We are ready, and hope the authorities would sort this out soon.”
Representatives of industrial estates, which house MSMEs, said they had spoken to the respective Collectors in their zones and were waiting for approvals. K.V. Kanakambaram, president, The Industrial Estate Mfrs. Association, said MSMEs in Guindy had not received permission to operate. "We are waiting for further orders," he said.
