Manufacturing Comes To A Near Halt

More and more companies are shutting down non-essential production following the nationwide lockdown

- Ishita Ayan Dutt & Avishek Rakshit

Manufacturing in Key sectors in the country has virtually stopped, with more and more companies announcing that they are shutting down factories owing to a shortage of labour and raw materials, and a lack of logistical support amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown. The lockdown, aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, is also impacting their plants overseas.

Aditya Birla Group-owned Hindalco announced that it had temporarily shut down or scaled-down operations at some of its aluminium and copper manufacturing facilities in line with the government’s directives. Operations are being managed with minimal staff as part of the effort to practise social distancing. it said.

In the US, Hindalco’s subsidiary, Novelis, has also partially shut down some of its plants as a result of the temporary shutdown of US automakers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim and UltraTech also said some of their plants were closed following the government orders.

While Novelis has temporarily ramped down aluminium supply for the automotive market during this period, it will continue to produce aluminium for the beverage can and specialty markets, Hindalco said.