India: Dalmia Bharat has suspended operations across its entire integrated cement production apparatus, equalling 26.5Mt/yr capacity, as of 26 March 2020. The move is a response to a government ordnance of 25 March 2020 imposing a 21-day lockdown on the whole of India due to the coronavirus. The company will implement the closure ‘until further notice,’ according to Mint News.
Dalmia Bharat CEO and managing director Mahendra Singhi said, “While cement production is continuous in nature and the plants have requisite permission from both the state and the central governments to operate with minimum employees during the lockdown, Dalmia Bharat will only carry out mandatory activities required for safety and security of the plants in the larger interest of its staff.”
Coronavirus had claimed 13 lives in India on 27 March 2020.