Jat stir forces Maruti to suspend production in Haryana

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, India's biggest carmaker by sales,on Saturday halted production at its Manesar and Gurgaon plants in Haryana citing disruption in supply of components due to a violent agitation by Jats seeking reservation in jobs and educational institutions.

With 1,700 robots in operation, the Manesar plant manufactures a car every 12 seconds. The Gurgaon unit manufactures the K-series engines that drive the hatchbacks like Alto K10, Swift, Celerio and Swift Dzire.

The two facilities produce close to 5,000 cars per day.

In a statement posted on its website, Maruti Suzuki said it had stopped manufacturing at the Manesar and Gurgaon plants on Saturday. The factories produce a combined 5,000 vehicles daily.

''Owing to the agitation in Rohtak and nearby areas, supplies of certain components have been disrupted. As a consequence, the company has had to temporarily suspend manufacture of cars at its facilities in Manesar and Gurgaon, starting Saturday (February 20) second half'', Maruti Suzuki stated in a release.

''The company is making efforts to arrange the components from other sources. Once the supply of components is restored, normal operations will resume.

The combined output from Manesar and Gurgaon is currently about 5000 vehicles per day,'' it added.

About 10 people have so far died in protests in Haryana, as demonstrators from the Jat community rallied against the caste quota system, which they said, limits their access to government jobs.

The last time Maruti had shut down these facilities was in 2012 due to labour unrest which had led to the killing of one officer by workers.

