<p>Gujarat’s bid to emerge as India’s Detroit received a major jolt on Wednesday as General Motors, which has had its base here since 1996 and is the global carmaker with the longest association with the state, announced the closure of its manufacturing plant at Halol starting from June 2016.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Spread across 172 acres, the Halol plant with a capacity to produce 110,000 units, has always been referred to as the Mother Plant of GM in India. The management of the company led by Mary Barra, Chief Executive Officer, GM, held a video conference with the workers at Halol, informing them about company’s decision to close the unit next year. Instead, GM announced its intent of investing $1 billion at the Talegaon plant in Maharashtra to increase capacity at that plant from 130,000 to 220,000 by 2025.<br /><br />GM, which had invested to the tune of $1 billion in India since the start of its Halol plant continued to book losses, with less than 2 per cent market share in India’s automobile sector. The announcement by GM has put the future of 1,200 employees (900 permanent and 300 contractual) at Halol unit in limbo, even as it announced that its new investment would create 12,000 new jobs at Talegaon.<br />The Halol unit has been in the past facing severe labour unrest, with repeated strikes between 2010 to 2014.<br /><br />“The CEO told the workers that the plant did not have good performance. Therefore, it is being shifted to Pune (Talegaon). Workers have been given a year's time to prove their worth by working without any additional allowances and perks,” claimed Nihil Mehta, union leader at GM's Halol plant and general secretary of Gujarat Kamdar Mandal. “We will explore our legal options to challenge this decision,” Mehta added. </p>
<p>Gujarat’s bid to emerge as India’s Detroit received a major jolt on Wednesday as General Motors, which has had its base here since 1996 and is the global carmaker with the longest association with the state, announced the closure of its manufacturing plant at Halol starting from June 2016.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Spread across 172 acres, the Halol plant with a capacity to produce 110,000 units, has always been referred to as the Mother Plant of GM in India. The management of the company led by Mary Barra, Chief Executive Officer, GM, held a video conference with the workers at Halol, informing them about company’s decision to close the unit next year. Instead, GM announced its intent of investing $1 billion at the Talegaon plant in Maharashtra to increase capacity at that plant from 130,000 to 220,000 by 2025.<br /><br />GM, which had invested to the tune of $1 billion in India since the start of its Halol plant continued to book losses, with less than 2 per cent market share in India’s automobile sector. The announcement by GM has put the future of 1,200 employees (900 permanent and 300 contractual) at Halol unit in limbo, even as it announced that its new investment would create 12,000 new jobs at Talegaon.<br />The Halol unit has been in the past facing severe labour unrest, with repeated strikes between 2010 to 2014.<br /><br />“The CEO told the workers that the plant did not have good performance. Therefore, it is being shifted to Pune (Talegaon). Workers have been given a year's time to prove their worth by working without any additional allowances and perks,” claimed Nihil Mehta, union leader at GM's Halol plant and general secretary of Gujarat Kamdar Mandal. “We will explore our legal options to challenge this decision,” Mehta added. </p>
