Contrary to the General Motors India's expectations of starting work at its beleaguered Halol plant from Monday, the deadlock over wage revision seems far from over.
The US health regulator has pulled up drug major Sun Pharma for manufacturing lapses, including failure to follow appropriate written procedures designed to prevent microbiological contamination of drug products, at its Gujarat-based plant. In a warning letter, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) pointed out various lapses at the Halol plant which produces finished pharmaceutical products. "This warning letter summarises significant violations of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for finished pharmaceuticals... Because your methods, facilities, or controls for manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding do not conform to CGMP, your drug products are adulterated," the USFDA stated.
MG Motor India is investing Rs 2,500 crore by the end of next year to increase the production capacity at its Halol plant in Gujarat, as it gears up to launch its mid-size SUV Astor, according to a top company official. Despite the worsening semiconductor shortage situation, which is likely to continue for at least another six months, the company expects its sales this year to grow by up to 100 per cent over last year. "We have done an investment of Rs 3,000 crore already, and by the end of next year, we will do another Rs 2,500 crore. "We will reach a total of Rs 5,500 crore," MG Motor India president and managing director Rajeev Chaba told PTI.
Company officials have maintained that the closure is a routine exercise and is not a fallout of the ongoing global meltdown. "There will be no production at the company's Halol unit for about two weeks," said P Balendran, vice-president, GM India. The company has shut production from December 13 to December 30.
Both are finding it difficult to sell one each of their plants -- Chennai Maraimalai Nagar (Ford) and Talegaon near Pune (GM) -- and are finding the road blocked by employee severance snarl-ups, report Sohini Das and Shine Jacob.
Hospitals to recover from sluggish Q3; diagnostics' growth rate at pre-Covid levels.
India's largest listed pharmaceutical (pharma) company - Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) - is expected to maintain its outperformance vis--vis the sector's, as its multiple bets on specialty products, improving product mix, recent acquisitions, and branded business are finding favour with brokerages. While it has gained 7 per cent over the past year, the Nifty Pharma Index is down 13.6 per cent. Its outperformance over two years has been fairly evident, with the market leader gaining 66 per cent to Nifty Pharma's minus 1.4 per cent.
The weakness in the stock was because of inspections by the American drug regulator at its Halol plant in Gujarat which resulted in eight observations, as well as a downward revision of speciality drug payoffs.
After a six-week tussle, the strike at General Motors India's Halol factory, 35 km from Vadodara, has finally been called off, with the workers and management reaching an understanding.
US auto major Ford Motor Co will shut its two manufacturing plants in India and will sell only imported vehicles in the country as part of a restructuring exercise, according to people aware of the development. The company, which invested about USD 2.5 billion at its Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sanand (Gujarat) plants, will stop selling vehicles such as the EcoSport, Figo and Aspire which are produced from these plants. Going ahead, it would only sell imported vehicles like Mustang in the country.
General Motors India, which was converted into a 50:50 joint venture between General Motors and SAIC last year, will be making a significant investment in terms of 'millions of dollars' at its Halol plant in Gujarat.
Talks between the management and workers on strike have so far failed to yield any result and even the threat to terminate jobs have not made the nearly 200 agitating employees return to duty.
The company, which plans to launch three light commercial vehicles from the stable of its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation during the same time period, also said it has lined up to introduce 14 new variants of its existing car models.
Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India Private Limited, said the company would launch Chevrolet Cruze, its new offering in the Chevrolet Spark segment, by third quarter of its financial year ended December 2009. Slym added, "The car will be priced similar to Chevrolet Spark. As far as the minicar is concerned, we are not competing with Tata Motors' Nano, which is a different segment."
In a chat with Sohini Das, GM India president and managing director Karl Slym says, with the launch of the new compact car, Beat, and a positive response to the Cruze, GM plans to cross the 100,000-unit mark this year in sales.
Production was halted at the Halol plant of General Motors in Gujarat because of heavy rains, a senior company official said on Thursday.
General Motors India on Tuesday introduced a new version of its multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera, the Elite range even as the company prepares to rev up capacity at its Halol plant to meet rising demands.
General Motors India on Wednesday said its sales grew 42 per cent in February 2005 and announced that expansion of its Halol plant would be completed later this month.
General Motors India on Friday said it would be hiking the price of its multi-purpose vehicle 'Tavera' and premium sedan 'Optra' by 1-2 per cent and will invest Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) to hike the capacity at its Halol plant to 80,000 units.
With all major US export-oriented drug manufacturing plants in the country up for inspection in 2022, some estimates peg that at least 20-30 per cent of the new product launches lined up for the US will be subject to on-site inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The last two years saw limited physical inspections due to travel restrictions during the pandemic. "Pre-Covid, the frequency and number of inspections of manufacturing plants in India by USFDA had increased significantly," analysts from ICICI Securities Research noted. "With growing ANDA filings, especially for complex products. "We expect this trend to return with the environment normalising," analysts from ICICI Securities Research noted.
Brokerages have cut the company's FY16 earnings estimates between 16% and 29% with target prices too coming down to the Rs 700-800 band
Hopes to launch full-size SUV MG Gloster by Diwali 2020, and have four products in the market in one-and-a-half years of its operations in India.
The MG Motor India management is focused on scaling up and launching smaller cars to play the long game in the country, says Pavan Lall.
A key lesson for the pharmaceutical sector in this case is to not downplay the significant impact that regulatory non-compliance can have on operations.
The $100-billion SAIC would have a dedicated manufacturing facility in India, and would be the first Chinese automaker to do so.
On the gaining side, Hero Moto, SBI, HDFC, HUL and L&T have gained between 1-1.4 per cent.
GM has invested $1 billion in the country since 1996.
GM has also exited from four other international markets, including Russia and Europe.
4 Ranbaxy facilities in India have been barred from exporting to US.
China's biggest carmaker, which own brands like Maxus, MG, Roewe and Yuejin, plans to invest $1 billion in India manufacturing unit, reports Swaraj Baggonkar from Mumbai.
GM India said customers will be able to book the Trailblazer on Amazon.in only from October 21-25, at a reservation deposit of Rs 25,000.
GM chief Mary Barra reveals turnaround plans.
Investors will maintain a cautious stance.
Sun Pharma expects synergy benefits by next fiscal.
Sources claim that 68-70 per cent of the workers at Halol are permanent ones, while the balance is tilted towards contractual workers at Talegaon.
Since 2013, the FDA has banned around 30 Indian drug manufacturing units for various violations
The Halol facility is important for the company as it accounts for 10 per cent of Sun Pharma's sales.
Apart from around 40 Japanese companies and five global vendors of MG Motor India, many other biggies are eyeing Gujarat for either greenfield opportunities or brownfield expansion.
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