Thermax launches VRS for workers at Chinchwad plant; check eligibility

Thermax has initiated a retirement programme for workers at its 50-year-old Chinchwad plant which makes boilers and heaters. Employees who are more than 40 years old or have completed 10 years are eligible for the scheme.

According to Sharad Gangal, head, people processes, around 200 of the 285 workers would be eligible. The VRS package comprises pension and commute apart from other retirals, Gangal said.

He added that Thermax would continue to manufacture in Chinchwad while also leveraging new facilities in Sri City (Andhra Pradesh), Savli (Gujarat) and Shirwal (Maharashtra) to support ramp up plans.

This is only the second time that the company has come up with a VRS and is looking at rationalising the workforce.

Meanwhile, Bharat Forge’s VRS scheme for employees at its flagship Mundhwa plant in Pune and its unit in Satara was completed on September 30. Capacity utilisation had dropped to 20% during the pandemic and the firm had started work on reducing costs.

CFO Kishore Saletore had said on an earnings call in August that the company had put in place a road map for a very strong reduction in salary costs. “It is not only reduction in manpower, we are actually looking at the entire activity and trying to go digital where each and every man position is being examined to see whether it can be done digitally. So as you can imagine it is a little long-drawn exercise, but we hope that will give us a fair amount of benefit,” Saletore had said.

CMD Baba Kalyani had recently observed the future of manufacturing was going to be digital and the coronavirus pandemic was fast-tracking this transformation. “At Bharat Forge, we are systematically digitising our operations for improving operational efficiencies. In fact, we have started running machines unmanned in a limited way to ultimately move to a lights-out facility,” Kalyani had said.