Kolkata, Aug 2 (IBNS): The West Bengal government has invited India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki to invest in the east Indian state.
West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee has written to Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) chairman R.C. Bhargava, inviting the automobile giant to invest in the state.
“I have written to Mr. Bhargava to come to West Bengal," Chatterjee told reporters here.
"The work culture and the environment are congenial here," he said.
The move by the West Bengal government came days after violent clashes between workers and management occurred in the company's Manesar plant last month.
Work in the Manesar plant, which witnessed unprecedented violence and burning down of an HR manager, has been suspended for an indefinite period.
Maruti HR manager Awanish Kumar Dev was burnt to death during the clashes.
Maruti said the workers’ union was demanding reinstatement of a worker who had been suspended for beating up a supervisor.
The company said it was extending full cooperation to the police and government authorities in identifying the guilty and taking suitable action.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL, formerly Maruti Udyog Limited) is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan.
The company has two manufacturing facilities located at Gurgaon and Manesar, south of New Delhi. Both the facilities have a combined capability to produce over a 1.5 million (1,500,000) vehicles annually.
In June last year, a 13-day strike demanding the recognition of the erstwhile Maruti Suzuki Employees' Union (MSEU) had brought production to a standstill at the plant and was followed by a month-long standoff in August and a 14-day strike in October.
