UP allows manufacturing units to function during lockdowns, curfews

New Delhi: The UP government, on Wednesday, allowed all manufacturing units to continue operations even during weekend lockdowns and night curfews but need to follow Covid-related protocols.

The move comes as a huge respite to UP’s electronics manufacturing industry including mobile phones, televisions and most importantly the component makers which run continuous processing units with 24-hour shifts.

“UP has taken an excellent step of permitting industries to operate continuously even in the curfew period,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA).

“PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) for electronics products are manufactured using SMT (Surface Mount Technology). SMT machines run continuously 24X7 without any breaks. This is mainly because these machines require high startup time, 8 to 10 hours, if there are breaks in between. Particularly component placement and reflow oven machine need running without any break,” he said.

However, the only challenge is that since public transport will not be running, companies will have to arrange transport for workers, he added.

“This is a very appropriate, prudent & sensible decision by the UP government that will keep the wheels of the economy running. The permission will help us avoid any operational inefficiencies and keep up the component supply to critical industries like medical equipment,” said Amrit Manwani, MD at Sahasra, a leading PCBA maker based in Noida.

The State, on April 20, imposed weekend lockdown, added to the night curfews which continued on weekdays, to control the surge in Covid cases. But, large, medium and micro industrial units were permitted to run following industry request. All workers with valid ID are allowed to commute during the lockdown, as per the order dated April 21, seen by ET.

The Noida and Greater Noida region in UP accounts for 60% of India’s total electronics production and houses major exporting companies like Samsung besides large producers like Oppo, Vivo, Dixon, Videotex, Lava, Salcomp, LG, Viera, Sunwoda etc. The Tamil Nadu government had also issued a similar permit to “continuous process industries” this week, providing relief to large manufacturers like Foxconn, Flex, Samina, Wingtech, Jabil etc.

“This is a welcome move to continue our production at a time when global supply chains are already facing disruptions,” said Sanjeev Agarwal, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Lava International.

“It also brings in a huge responsibility for us and our team to strictly follow Covid guidelines, so that none of our team members are at risk,” he said.