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Maharashtra Scooters cuts working days

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, June 23

MAHARASHTRA Scooters Ltd, owned partly by Bajaj Auto Ltd, has reduced its plant's working days from six days to five days a week.

The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has been constrained to introduce a five-day working week at its plant at Satara in Maharashtra due to the recession in the scooter segment of the two-wheeler industry.

The plant has been operating on a five-day week schedule from June 19.

This move would bring down production by 16-20 per cent, a company official said. Currently, the company manufactures 14,000 units per month.

According to him, this reduction is a normal annual reduction in production during the monsoon season. ``However, this time we have chosen to not operate the plant for a day instead of cutting down per day production,'' the official said.

He added that the offtake of scooters during the monsoon months of June, July and August is normally lower than the rest of the year.

Maharashtra Scooters manufacturers Bajaj Chetak at its plant. The company's stronghold is in the markets of the North and West followed by South and East.

He ruled out any significant impact on the overall turnover of the company. However, he agreed that scooter demand during this year has been more sluggish as compared to the previous years.

``We will watch the demand situation closely and revert back to six-day week as and when required,'' he said.