KOCHI
GCDA Chairman K. Chandran Pillai has urged HMT Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Jain to augment the workforce at its Kalamassery unit by recruiting at least 100 new employees.
Functional autonomy and strengthening the workforce would better the performance of HMT Machine Tools, Kalamassery, and also create more employment opportunities, he told the Chairman in Kochi. Mr. Pillai said that HMT Kalamassery continued its record of making profit even in the last fiscal, with a working profit of ₹9.5 crore. If the interest liability at the rate of 15.5% being charged by the Centre since 2006 on a loan granted for a compulsorily introduced retirement scheme was done away with, the unit’s actual profit would rise to ₹7 crore, he said.
The Kalamassery unit, which once had 3,500 employees, now had just 135 regular employees and 250 workers on contract. With at least 500 permanent employees, the unit would be able to make products worth over ₹200 crore annually, he said.
