Pfizer to shut 55-year-old Mumbai manufacturing plant

Pfizer Ltd, the Indian unit of global pharmaceutical major Pfizer Inc., has decided to shut its manufacturing facility at Thane, near Mumbai, with effect from 16 September, the company said on Wednesday.

There has been no production activity at the plant since 2013, and the closure will not impact the supply of any of its medicines, according to company.

The decision to close the site is based on an assessment of its long-term viability and its ability to achieve the needed production, the statement said.

This Thane plant was commissioned in the 1960s. Pfizer had offered voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to the workmen at the plant last year, which was taken up by as many as 132 of the 212 workmen, the company said.

The remaining 80 workmen continue to receive full wages, despite plant inactivity. As part of the closure process, the company will honour its obligations towards requisite compensation, as mandated by law, for the remaining workmen, it said. 

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/pVTvKlGbgyE7m7lq20Pb3O/Pfizer-to-shut-55year-old-Mumbai-manufacturing-plant.html