Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy will visit the Kalamassery unit of HMT in Kochi on Monday (August 19). HMT, based in Bengaluru, is among the largest heavy industrial units in the public sector in the country that has a unit in Kerala.
After the late K. Karunakaran, Mr. Kumaraswamy is the first heavy industries minister of Cabinet rank from South India, according to a communication. Mr. Karunakaran had visited the HMT unit in Kochi in 1995 and a visit by the Union Minister to the unit comes after 29 years. Mr. Kumaraswamy had declared that he would help revive the Bengaluru-based HMT. The promise has given great hope to the employees of the company. Bids have been invited for submission of suggestions for revival of HMT.
The HMT Kalamassery unit has been operating in profit continuously. However, a shortage of employees and working capital landed the unit in some problem periodically. The employees hope that the Union Minister’s visit will make a big difference to the way the unit operates. There were 125 permanent employees and around 300 employees on contract at the Kalamassery unit, the communication added.
