Chennai/Hyderabad: IT and manufacturing industry bore the brunt of torrential rains in Chennai as the industry body Assocham pegging the loss at over '15,000 crore. Private companies across sectors were shut on Thursday following a state advisory. As per quick and rough estimates of Assocham Research Bureau, financial losses due to record breaking rainfall in Chennai and several parts of Tamil Nadu may even exceed Rs 15,000 crore mark.
IT companies have shifted some of their staff for business continuity and have remained shut on Thursday also. “We are closed today and tomorrow following government advisory. However, we have our business continuity plans in place,” said a spokesperson of Tata Consultancy Service. Other IT companies such as Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant, HP Global Soft, Accenture, etc also remained closed.
According to Nasscom, major IT companies have already taken precautionary measures to avoided troubles and have asked employees to stay put in offices. “Employees were sleeping in offices. Infrastructure has been created for the people to stay back in offices. We are also making sure that the disaster recovery backup system has been moved to other locations,” Nasscom chairman B.V.R. Mohan Reddy said at an event in Hyderabad.
“Hopefully as far as the disaster management is concerned, the companies have already done that. Data backups have been moved out of Chennai momentarily. I think it is receding at this juncture,” Mr Reddy said. The automobile industry has also taken a big hit as Chennai is its second biggest centre, with several companies, including Hyundai, Renault, BMW, Ford, Yamaha, Royal Enfield, having their manufacturing plants in the city.
Automobile firms, including Hyundai, Ford, Renault and tyre maker Apollo Tyres have also suspended operations at their respective plants in and around the city. According to a statement issued by Hyundai, resumption of operations will depend on the emerging situation. The company, whose Chennai plant manufacturers 6.8 lakh cars annually, had suspended its operations since Wednesday.
“The unprecedented rainfall in Chennai has severely affected the city, including our employees, our manufacturing facilities and offices. The floods caused by the rain have also impacted logistics and our supply-chain, resulting in disruption of our production,” a Royal Enfield spokesperson said in a statement. The company had in November lost production of 4,000 motorcycles.
“As a consequence, we have shut down our offices in the city and our plants in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam since December 1,” the spokesperson added. Ford’s Chennai plant, which rolls out 3.4 lakh engines and 2 lakh cars annually, is also shut due to nature’s fury. The operations at Renault India’s 4.8-lakh vehicle capacity plant too was also halted.
“The safety of our employees is paramount. We are monitoring the situation closely and resumption of operations will depend entirely on the weather improving,” Renault India operations country CEO and managing director Sumit Sawhney told a news agency.
