SANGRUR (Punjab): Singur in West Bengal and Sangrur in Punjab are similar sounding names, but the similarity does not end there.
After Tata Motors threatened to pull out its Nano project from Singur over a land dispute, a snack-food plant of multi-national PepsiCo is contemplating moving out its manufacturing facility from near Sangrur town in Punjab.
PepsiCo India officials here said the production of this unit at Channo near here, 160 km from Chandigarh, is likely to be shifted to either Pune or Kolkata following renewed trouble at the plant.
The Frito-Lays plant here, which manufactures popular snack-food brands ‘Lays’ potato chips and ‘Kurkure’ munchies, is under a lockout following work disruption since Aug 20.
The management and plant workers, who are supported by local farmers, are locked in a bitter tussle for the past four months with the workers starting a ‘go-slow’ agitation over unmet demands.
The brewing trouble led to the management dismissing labour union president Sanjeev Kumar last month and suspending 12 workers.
A statement from the company said production was being shifted to either Pune or Kolkata. The plant consumes 120 tonnes of potatoes daily and its shutdown will adversely affect over 1,500 farmers of this fertile region.
While the Punjab government has chosen to remain silent on the issue, Sangur’s Akali Dal parliamentarian Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has stepped in to play the role of a mediator.
“We are trying to get this matter sorted out. We hope there are some results,” Dhindsa told IANS here.
