Nokia resumes Tamil Nadu plant after shutting it down

After briefly suspending operations at its Chennai factory, Finnish telecom equipment manufacturer, Nokia said that it has resumed operations at the plant with minimum required strength.

Earlier last week, the company had suspended operations as 42 of its employees were reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Although Nokia is allowed to run the factory with 33% staff strength, it is currently operating at even lower capacity.

Incidentally, Nokia’s Chennai plant is one of the largest manufacturing plants for telecom equipment in India. It is located in the outskirts of the capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai. Tamil Nadu has reported more than 17,000 positive cases of COVID-19 while Chennai remains the state’s worst hit city.

In a statement to the media, a Nokia spokesperson said, “Last week, we suspended operations to ensure the safety of our staff and have since undertaken further fumigation and sanitization activities in line with regulatory guidelines. We have now resumed operations with minimum required staff strength. We are closely monitoring the situation and plan to gradually ramp up.”

Nokia’s factory had been operating at a restricted level for the past few weeks with necessary government approvals. As per the state authority protocol, the part of the factory where the infected person worked needs to be temporarily closed and thoroughly disinfected.

The recent development at Nokia comes just a week after Chinese smartphone maker Oppo had suspended production at its Greater Noida plant as some employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, both reported positive cases of COVID-19 in their employees soon after they resumed operations after 50 days of suspension due to lockdown.

The recent cases of coronavirus transmission at workplaces have raised serious concerns regarding the government’s decision to ease movement during the lockdown in order to kickstart the economy.

—Hrnxt