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Nokia seeks early permission to sell Chennai plant

Nokia's Chennai plant becomes an orphaned factory

CHENNAI: With time running out for the employees at Nokia’s Sriperumbudur plant, trade union members are looking to AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa to lend a hand and have a suggestion for her. They advocate a government takeover of the plant and a roll-out of 'Amma' branded mobile phones along the lines of Amma water and Amma salt."We are meeting state government officials on Tuesday and will ask them to take over the plant. They can produce mobile phones of international standards at price points as low as Rs 700 a piece and sell it through PDS shops or give them free," said A Soundararajan, honorary president of Nokia India Workers’ Union and a CPM MLA from Perumbur in north Chennai. Nokia announced suspension of production of mobile phones at its Sriperumbudur plant from November 1. "There are other free schemes like TVs and laptops. Including mobile phones on the list will not cost too much," he said.He suggested that the state government engage its IT arm ELCOT and devise plans for the takeover. Soundararajan said that with additional investment, the plant can also make set-top boxes for Arasu Cable as well as for direct sale."We fear that the Nokia plant will be shut down and the suspension of production from November 1 is a precursor to it. Our belief is that a tax dispute should not be the cause for a factory closure. Employees have met the Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman to seek her support. We now want help from the state government," he said.(Nokia announced suspension of production at the Sriperumbudur plant from November 1: TOI photo)In a global transaction, Nokia announced sale of its handset business, including the Sriperumbudur plant, to Microsoft for 5.4 billion euro last year and the deal deadline was March 31, which was extended to April 2014. Several cases and tax disputes surfaced after the deal with Microsoft was announced, and the Sriperumbudur plant was left out of the deal. Nokia ran the plant as a contract manufacturer for Microsoft for one year. The factory’s assets are frozen by the tax department. All but 851 employees continue on the rolls of Nokia.While Nokia earlier announced suspension of production from November 1, it has declared a production holiday till October 31 as it has completed finished shipping all orders last week.(Nokia manufacturing factory at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. TOI photo)