Wind turbine manufacturer Inox Wind (NSE: INOXWIND) on Thursday issued a notice declaring a lockout of its manufacturing facilities from October 22. The company has cited “wind industry going through a very tough phase” and its workers resorting to “illegal sit-in strike” and adopting “go-slow tactics” as reasons for the lockout.
Inox Wind is part of the $3-billion Inox Group, which counts Inox Leisure and Gujarat Fluorochemicals among its companies. It produces 2 MW wind turbines and blades from its plants in Ahmedabad and Indore. The company said in its statement it employs 1,200 people “directly and indirectly”.
“The overall wind industry in India is going through a very tough phase. India may be targeting huge addition in renewable power year-on-year, but the pace of transformation is adversely affecting the wind turbine manufacturers,” it said.
Tepid participation
The company said the recent wind capacity auctions have seen “tepid participation” leading to continuous postponement of allotments. At a recent auction of SECI, the nodal agency for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, only two developers took part and, while the auction was for 1,800 MW, only 440 MW could be allotted.
Many turbine manufacturers, “including our own manufacturing unit”, have been shut down for two years, the notice said. “Our management continued to pay salaries to employees instead of declaring a lay-off or retrenchment. We are struggling to survive,” it added.
Yet some workers had been resorting to strikes and work stoppage, because of which “the management is constrained to declare a lockout from October 22”, it further said.
For FY19, Inox Wind reported a turnover of ₹1,535 crore (consolidated) and net loss of ₹39 crore. On Thursday, the company’s share closed at ₹36.35 on the NSE , 45 paise lower than the previous close.
Speaking to BusinessLine's correspondent in Ahmedabad, an official in the Labour Department of the Gujarat government confirmed that the department had received a letter from the company declaring a lockout at the plant.