Karnataka’s industry bodies are urging the state government to consider resumption of work at auto and auto parts manufacturing units following signs of a slowdown in COVID-19 cases in the region. Industry bodies including the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and Confederation of India Industry (CII) are requesting the government to ease restriction so that some manufacturers can fulfil export orders.
Businesses of auto parts manufacturers are severely challenged with revenues down on weak domestic demand amid the lockdown. Additionally, manufacturers, who fail to fulfil export orders, will have to suffer penalties.
The associations reiterated that every safety protocols will be followed at each of the manufacturing units. Since the beginning of April, the auto sector has been under pressure weighed by stringent lockdowns announced by Maharashtra and subsequently other states including Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. All these states are major auto manufacturing hubs in India accounting for over 60pc of the country’s automotive exports.
Major manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors India, Nissan India, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto have either slashed production capacity or completely halted work in April and May which has hurt domestic demand.