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Sick TCM waiting for that shot in the arm
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The Travancore Chemical Manufacturing Company at Kalamassery has been in the red for some time. With nobody but the employees interested in seeing the company's survival, another firm may soon join the graveyard of defunct factories, says JOHNY PA ZHANILATH
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More than 350 people, living in and around Kalamassery in Kochi will soon be jobless. Uncertainty awaits their tomorrows as Kalamasserry, the most talked-about industrial hub of Kerala, is witnessing the premature death of yet another industrial house.
Travancore Chemical Manufacturing (TCM) company, renowned across the country for its quality chemical products is all set to down its shutters, thanks to Kerala's sky-rocketing power tariff, changing economic policies and decisions by the authorities concerned.
As a prelude to the imminent closure, the company, following its power disconnection, has already ceased the operation of its Kochi office and stopped production since last December. While the important machinery in the factory has already been shifted to the company's other units operating in Mattoor and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, the management is contemplating the outright sale of the factory spread on a sprawling 24 acre-plot in Kalamassery's industrial belt.
The management is also mulling over terminating the service of its employees through VRS in a phased manner. Founded in 1956 by a Madras based scientist, Dr.P.Krishnamoorthy, TCM Company has been the manufacturers and suppliers of India's best Copper Sulphate and other industrial chemicals like Copper Oxy chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chlorate etc.
With an equity participation of 36 shares held by Western India Match Company (WIMCO) and 23 shares by the LIC, TCM has been managed by Dr.P.Krishnamoorthy's son, K.Gopalan since 1987.
Popularly known as Kerala's Thurisu Company, TCM's first unit began its operation in Kundara in 1943. The company's Kochi unit was started in Kalamasserry industrial area due to the abundant availability of electricity and the raw material essential for the production of Copper Sulphate.
Predictably, the company had a smooth run in Kerala till 1997.
Today TCM has a liability of nearly Rs 10 crore due to the enhanced power tariff.
``And we're not at all interested in continuing the operation like this,'' reveals a senior official on anonymity. According to the company's commercial and administration manager, K.O.Baby, TCM has been in the doldrums since 1998 due to the excess power cost.
As the crisis continued to haunt the company, the management, in January 2001, approached the Government seeking permission to down its shutters. The LDF Government that rejected the proposal, advised the management to maintain the operation instead, with reduced staff strength.
The company that maintained its production with 60 workers on a rotation basis, under the orders of the Government, however filed an appeal against the Government order in the Industrial Tribunal in Alappuzha. Though the Tribunal verdict is still awaited, the management has been forced to pay salaries to employees for the past many months for no work done.
While India's number one chemical maker of yesteryear has been undergoing an acid test, its proposal to terminate the service of employees through VRS has evoked a cold response. With only 56 workers opting for VRS, the management's latest decision to implement it in a protracted, phased manner is being widely opposed by the trade unions.
It's a tactic used to buy more time, alleges Parameswaran, an employee hailing from Elamakkara. The management has lost interest in it, neither do they evince any interest in settling workers' issues, says K.Babu MLA, TCM workers' union (INTUC) leader.
More than 50 workers have already opted for VRS, but the management has not yet acted on their papers.
``I have been serving TCM for the last 24 years. At this age, where can I find a new job,'' asks Damodaran Pillai, a 45-year-employee from Edappally. With a solution evading the trade union negotiations, Williams George, yet another employee with 20 years of service, has started a provision store in his village near Chittoor.
As workers lose all hope, the management reacts to the workers issues on expected lines. ''We are exploring all means,'' says the commercial and administration manager of TCM.
''Unless some willing promoters come forward to take over the company or the Government gives us electricity at a reduced rate, the company cannot go ahead. We have already conveyed this to the Chief Minister''.
He adds that the C.M., however, has not given any assurance on their demand.
How could the C.M. give them an assurance, asks Mr.K.Babu. The government cannot give electricity at a subsidised rate to any particular industry.
However, he says that his union has asked the government to give incentives to the large-scale power consumers like TCM to compensate the additional cost on electricity.
With TCM in the red, will it join the other three closed factories, Ogela Glass Factory, Thoshiba Anand Batteries, and Indian Transformers? Only time and Government policies can tell.
Power equations gone sour
TCM was a company that was doing well for 50 years. What happened?
Besides hiked power tariff, global economic reforms, spiralling excise duty and occasional labor unrest are said to be the prime factors that threaten the existence of TCM. When the LDF government reduced the electricity tariff to lure new industry to Kerala, four Chlorate companies sprang up in Palakkad. While they were getting power at a subsidised rate of 80 paise per unit, TCM was forced to pay Rs.3.50 per unit, reveals the management.
According to the official spokesman, the enhanced excise duty also threw a spanner in TCM's works. As the limit of excise duty was enhanced enormously, TCM had to compete with small scale industries, he adds.
Electricity being the major ingredient for the production of Potassium Chloride through electrolysis, its enhanced tariff caused a huge liability to the company. On the other hand, the company's other units in Tamil Nadu have been running profitably, predictably due to the low electricity cost, claims the management.
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