India's leading two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has become the first major manufacturing company that decided to suspend its operations temporarily due to the COVID crisis.
The company in a statement said that the decision to shut the operations for four days was taken out of a commitment to the safety and welfare of its people. The plants and Global Parts Center (GPC) will be shut in a staggered manner between April 22 and May 1, 202.
"In keeping with its commitment to the safety and welfare of its people, Hero MotoCorp has decided to proactively halt operations temporarily at all of its manufacturing facilities across the country, including its Global Parts Center (GPC), in view of the ongoing escalation in the spread of Covid-19 across the country," said the company in a statement released on Tuesday.
However, the company has clarified that the shutdown will not impact its ability to meet the demand and the production loss will be compensated during the remainder of the quarter.
"All plants will resume normal operations post this short shutdown period," it added.
The company also intends to utilise the shutdown period for carrying out necessary maintenance work in its manufacturing plants.
Hero MotoCorp is one of the leading players among the two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, with a total manufacturing capacity of 11.6 million units per annum. The company has six manufacturing plants, which are located in Haridwar, Dharuhera, Gurgaon, Neemrana, Vadodara and Chittoor.
As per the company's annual report for the year ended March 2020, Hero MotoCorp has 8,599 permanent employees and 21,091 employees hired on a temporary/contractual/casual basis.