"The VRS offer goes beyond the 15 days of pay per year of service stipulated by the Industrial Disputes Act and would ensure that any worker opting for it would get a minimum of Rs five lakh and a maximum payment of Rs 8.15 lakh.
The offer would be open for two weeks, up to May 14, 2005," the release said. "The refrigerator industry in the country has been bogged down by excess capacities and low demand growth, resulting in losses to many units including the Hyderabad Unit," the release quoted A.J. Gole, vice-president (human resources) at Voltas Ltd, as saying. According to the release, Voltas' Hyder- abad Unit has been in the red for the past 12 years except during 2000-02 when the Company had contract manufacturing orders from LG and Samsung.

These orders dried up after both the companies set up their own plants in India, encouraged by concessions and benefits offered to greenfield projects in some states. "The losses at the Hyderabad Unit mounted sharply after 2002, and currently the unit is bur- dened by accumulated losses of over Rs 170 crores. After the stoppage of contract manufactur- ing orders, over 450 of the 800-plus workforce has become redundant. Due to lack of orders, the company has been paying salaries without work to 250 employees for the past five months," the release said.