Maruti back to work, govt calls for talk with workers today

Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest carmaker, resumed limited production at its Manesar plant shut down by labour unrest on Monday. Talks are all set to happen today between the management and the striking workers, held by the Haryana government, reports CNBC-TV18's Swati Khandelwal Jain.

The Maruti management and workers have agreed to participate in this talk along to end strikes that have cost over Rs 1,500 in lost production. Maruti has suffered a production loss of over 50,000 cars this year due to labour unrest which culminated last week when workers took control of its Manesar plant. However, today the weld shop, with some trained workers from among those who have refused to join the strike has become operational. Production in a small way has started at Manesar and normal operations are on at the Gurgoan plant. The diesel engine supply from Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL) will depend on how much they can produce in Gurgaon, hence that will be dependent on the engine and transmissions coming out of that. However, the key note is that there are fresh hopes now, in terms of both the parties sitting across the table along with Haryana government to talk and resolve this issue. The ongoing strike since last four months or so, saw losses and Maruti sales dropped 21% in September, against rising interest rates and vehicle costs that hurt demand. However, with the Haryana government brokering the talks between Maruti and the workers and the festive season around, a lot is now banking on getting the issue resolved. Shares in the carmaker were up 2.8% at Rs 1,056 after news of the production restart at 0530 GMT on Monday, against a 0.2% fall in Mumbai's benchmark index. Maruti shares have fallen more than 27% in 2011, under performing a nearly 20% fall in the broader market. (With inputs from Reuters)