Fire at Subros plant in Manesar; Maruti output may be hit

A major fire engulfed an automotive-part manufacturing unit in Haryana's industrial and automotive hub Manesar on Sunday afternoon, leaving one person injured.

The flames erupted in Subros Limited, which manufactures compressors for Maruti Suzuki Ltd, at around 2 pm and spread swiftly due to the compressors exploding in the extreme heat of the fire. Over a dozen fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the inferno, which has damaged property worth crores of rupees.

Gurgaon Police Superintendent Ajeet Singh said a portion of the factory's building had collapsed due to the fire. "We got the information of the fire. We immediately rushed ambulances and the fire brigade to the spot ... one person has been reported to be injured. The intensity of the fire is high, and fire department personnel are facing difficulties due to wind," he said.

According to the eyewitnesses the entire unit got gutted which had three days' supply of automotive air-conditioners for Maruti Suzuki and a few other vehicle manufacturers.

The factory employees about 500 people but being a Sunday only critical workers were present.

The company is expected to shift its production to its Noida factory till the Manesar factory revived. However, still the immediate supply to Maruti may be impacted to some extent.

Subros is one of the biggest suppliers of air conditioning for Maruti Suzuki India and commands over 60 per cent of their total A/C consumption A/Cs are fitted in almost all the cars manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India.

Situated in sector 8 of Manesar, the plant is in the vicinity of the Maruti Udyog Ltd factory and is spread over an area of 38,000 sq m.

Subros Ltd is joint venture public limited company with 40 per cent ownership by the Suri family and 13 per cent each by Denso Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corp. Subros is the leading manufacturer of thermal products for automotive applications in India, in technical collaboration with Denso.