With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on different segments of businesses, the automobile industry is set to be the most deeply impacted sector due to its overall slow growth rate for the past two years. Any hope for a positive growth rate this year looks very bleak. In the past couple of days, market giants like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors have decided to shut down their plants and suspend all kinds of manufacturing activities which has also resulted in the demand for auto ancillary parts to take a nosedive.
Now, Rockman Industries Ltd., the auto-components arm of Hero Group, has suspended all operations in its 7 facilities till March 31, 2020. Rockman has its manufacturing units in Ludhiana, Haridwar, Bawal, Chennai, Tirupati and Halol. As a responsible corporate, Rockman decided to suspend operations after the government’s directive for prevention against COVID-19.
Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Halts Operations At Haryana Facilities
This comes at a time when the automobile and the manufacturing sector is already witnessing lower sales because of a weak macroeconomic environment even as new emission norms are set to kick in from April 1. The closure and suspension of production have led to auto stocks taking a plunge upto 20 per cent on Monday. Rockman supplies Aluminium die casting components and automotive chains to some of the leading automobile OEMs in India and overseas. In a press release, Rockman Industries announced that all its employees- contractual and permanent would be retained. Rockman has an employee strength of 7,200 spread across their operations.
Rockman Industries, through its CSR arm- Mission Parivartan, has been actively raising awareness about the COVID -19 virus through various initiatives. Camps and sessions have been held within the plant to educate employees about the best practices of personal hygiene to protect themselves and their families against the virus. These activities were also extended to the community. With more and more states announcing complete or partial lockdowns, it is only a matter of time that all activities come to a complete still across the country.