Maruti Suzuki shares drop as riot-hit plant remains shut

Shares in  fell more than 5 percent in early trading on Monday after the carmaker admitted that it had no idea when a factory hit by a deadly riot last week would reopen.

Violent clashes between workers and management last week left one dead, scores injured and parts of the plant burned out, closing the 550,000 vehicles-a-year Manesar factory where Maruti manufacturers its best-selling Swift hatchback.

Shares in the carmaker were trading 5.4 percent lower at 0955 am (0425 GMT), with shares in parent Suzuki Motor Corp down 2.9 percent in Tokyo.

Maruti chairman R.C. Bhargava said on Saturday that he could not say when the factory would reopen, as police continue to investigate the riot and over 20 officials injured during the violence remain in hospital.

Maruti will not be able to import extra vehicles or shift lost production to another plant, Bhargava added, raising the risk of supply constraints for the carmaker, which saw its sales slump last year due to weeks of strikes at the same plant.

"Following the incidents of violence and arson at the Manesar factory, the Management believes that if employees are asked to report for work at the facility, their lives will be endangered," the company said in a statement on Saturday.