Jamshedpur, Sept 5: Fate of Tayo Rolls Limited situated at Gamharia was finally decided by the company�s Board members on Monday as they approved the proposal for its closure.
With this decision, the uncertainty over the future of the 474 company workers and their families was also cleared with the company giving them the last opportunity to opt for voluntary separation scheme (VSS).
The VSS proposal will be offered from 6th September till 20th September as a last resort to provide best possible compensation to the workers, said Shankar Marar, managing director, Tayo Rolls Limited.
Marar said earlier the company had offered to give 18 month�s compensation benefit to the workers. Now the revised compensation package includes a compensation for an enhanced period of 32 month, he said.
�The Board has intimated the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) about its decision to close down the company on accounts of its poor financial condition. The Board held a meeting on the closure issue in Kolkata.
All options were explored and discussed before the final decision was taken by the Board members. Now we hope that the workers eligible for the VSS take advantage of the offer within the deadline as the company heads for a phased closure,� Marar said.
Contrary to workers� hopes about a possible absorption of Tayo workers in other Tata Steel companies, the company�s Board put an end to any further speculation in this regard.
Tayo Rolls Limited (formerly Tata-Yodogawa Limited) is a metal fabrication and processing company headquartered in Jamshedpur and a subsidiary of Tata Steel.
The Tayo Rolls MD also announced an early vacation benefit scheme for the company workers residing in the company quarters.
The workers relinquishing the quarters within one month will be given Rs 75,000 while those doing so in two, three and four month will be given Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively, he said, adding that the workers not availing quarter benefits will get Rs 45,000.
Marar said the workers had been given the first chance to opt for VSS from 1st June to 15th July. Help of private agencies was also offered to the workers for seeking assistance in getting jobs in other companies.
More than 100 officers of the company applied in other companies to get employment opportunity. The workers, on the contrary, showed reluctance in opting for the VSS.
Tayo Rolls� products were primarily cast rolls, forged rolls, special castings and pig iron. It was promoted in 1968 in collaboration with Yodogawa Steel Works of Japan. It was the only company in the world to manufacture both cast and forged rolls right from iron ore with its integrated facilities under one roof.
But after 2008, the company continued to incur heavy losses every year and finally the Board of Directors in February decided to refer the company to Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). On May 26 last, the Board of Directors decided to introduce VSS.
The Board of Directors had also decided to suspend company operations in a phased manner.
Earlier, demanding better VSS package, the company employees and their family members had staged a blockade of the company gate and met political leaders to seek their support.
The workers had also met Chief Minister Raghubar Das to seek his intervention in the matter. Das had met Tata Steel MD TV Narendran in this connection, but nothing positive came out of the meeting.
