Suzuki locks out workers after riot

All 3000 workers will be charged with murder following the deadly attack on a manager at the plant. Photo / AP

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, locked out workers at a factory near New Delhi and ruled out restarting production until a probe is completed into rioting that led to the death of a manager.

The automaker, majority-owned by Suzuki, won't import cars to make up for the loss of production at its Manesar factory, which accounts for about 40 per cent of its total capacity, chairman R.C. Bhargava said.

He didn't say how long the investigation would take or when workers would return to the plant. The latest production stoppage is the fourth in the past year at the Manesar factory.

Police said that all 3000 union workers at the plant will be charged with murder and attempted murder for the mob attack that caused the death of Awanish Kumar Dev, a human resources general manager, and injured 70 others.

Maruti has no plans to relocate the plant out of Manesar in northern Haryana state, Bhargava said.

"This is bad news for Maruti as it may take as little as five days or as long as 50 days to identify the rogue elements in the workers who did this," said Mahantesh Sabarad, an analyst at Fortune Equity Brokers India, based in Mumbai. "It also shows the trust deficit between the management and the workers. This lockout comes at a very efficient factory that produces some of Maruti's most popular models."

The lockout comes amid a slowdown in sales in India because of high petrol prices and interest rates.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on has cut its growth forecast to a range of 9 per cent to 11 per cent for the year ending March 31, from an estimate of 10 per cent to 12 per cent given in April.