In a move that may finally spell the end of the road for Dunlop India Ltd., on Jan. 31, the Calcutta High Court ordered a liquidator to take possession of assets belonging to the 87-year-old company that often failed to produce tires due to labor disputes or the lack of a reliable supply.
Dunlop India, which belongs to the Ruia Group, is said to owe creditors more than Rs 10 billion.
The court’s decision means the loss of up to 1,500 jobs. However, in the unique case of Dunlop India the workers do not necessarily see the prospect of unemployment as a bad thing. As Indian financial website livemint.com explains, the decision gives Dunlop India workers the opportunity to recover the money their employer owes them, an amount Bidyut Raut, a leader of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, estimates to be Rs 700 million in total.
The Times of India quoted Raut as saying, “Workers were upset with the way Pavan Ruia was running the factory since October 2011. There was no production and salaries of workers had become irregular. The promoter, in the meantime, started moving out company assets. The DIL management was not keen on running the company despite all help from the state government."
In a statement e-mailed to livemint.com, a Ruia Group spokesperson said the company will “decide on the next course of action after getting our counsel’s advice on the issue.”
If the court decision indeed marks the end of Dunlop India, it’ll be the final chapter in a story that began in 1926 with the founding of Dunlop Rubber Company (India) Ltd. In its heyday years, the firm manufactured a diverse range of products, including tires for carts, bicycles, cars and aircraft. (Tyres & Accessories)
