Tata Motors to halt operations in Pune if coronavirus concern deepens

Pune : India's Tata Motors has slowed down its operations in the Pune plant and has claimed that they will halt operations completely if the coronavirus concern deepens in the region.

The move by Tata Motors, which owns the British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, comes as the state recorded the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India.

On Friday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ordered that all schools and offices will remain closed till March 31 except those providing essential services in three major cities, including the financial capital Mumbai and Pune.

Tata Motors will scale down its operations by the end of Monday and will be prepared to close the plant by Tuesday if things worsen, the company's managing director Guenter Butschek said, adding that it will remain in this mode until March 31.

"We shall continue to closely monitor the situation in all states where our offices and plants are located and make appropriate and proactive decisions should the need arise," Butschek said.

In a separate statement, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said that all group companies would make full payments to temporary and daily wage earners for the months of March and April - even if they were not able to come into work due to quarantine measures, site closures or plant shutdowns.