The Hindu : Karnataka News : It is good news for the people of Harihar

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Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

It is good news for the people of Harihar

H.S. Narasimha Kumar

Nethaji Construction Company to re-start Kirloskar factory

It will help provide jobs to 1,300 employees
It will cost Rs. 150 crore; renovation next month

DAVANGERE: Here is good news for the people of Harihar whose economy had been adversely affected in the last eight years owing to the closure of the Mysore Kirloskar Factory.

The Nethaji Construction Company of Chennai has come forward to take over the factory and re-start it by the end of this year.

The Nethaji Construction Company, which has reportedly bagged orders from the Railways, aeroplane, car and tractor manufacturing companies, has evinced keen interest in re-starting the factory.

The re-opening of the factory would not only provide over 1,300 jobs to employees of the factory but will also provide orders to many allied industries.

The economy of Harihar took a severe beating after the closure of the factory which had 1,350 employees.

Apart from this, it had indirectly provided jobs to over 1,000 people.

Many small-scale industries were closed following the closure of the factory and many employees went to work in hotels, bar and restaurants, while some set up cycle shops and small canteens to earn their daily bread.

Renovation

According to A.S.K. Firoz Khan, one of the proprietors of the Chennai-based company, the renovation of the factory would start in the third week of February.

The factory would be recommenced at a cost of Rs. 150 crore.

Except a few machines, the others would be replaced with sophisticated high speed machines from Italy, he said. He said that the company has plans to provide quarters, hospital and other facilities to its employees.

He said that children of the employees of the previous management would be given employment in case of employees who cannot continue service.

Humble beginning

The Mysore Kirloskar factory made a humble beginning with one machine shop employing about 40 workers. In 1951, there were more than 650 machines and production of castings exceeded over 470 tonnes per month.

During the Second World War, the Government had placed substantial orders for Defence equipment.

The range of production was enlarged and it included lathes, drilling machines, power presses and Hacksaw machines. The company closed down in 2000 allegedly owing to mismanagement.

There were many attempts to re-start the factory, including one by some employees. However, owing to financial constraints they had to drop their idea.

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