Reliance Industries has closed five of its seven polyester and petrochemical units at Patalganga near Mumbai soon
after offering exit option to employees, said sources close to the development.
The move, which comes in the backdrop of a global slowdown, aims to improve profit margin amid falling demand for polyester products worldwide.
"The company has shut down plants for manufacturing polyester filament yarn, polyester staple fibre, paraxylene, purified terephthalic acid and linear alkyl benzene. However, it is yet to close down the second units of PSF and PFY," sources said.
As per an agreement reached with the employees' union, the company had given exit offer to almost 800 non-supervisory employees at Patalganga.
About 500 employees in this category such as operators and machine maintenance technicians have accepted the golden handshake scheme which is yet to be closed, said sources.
"Employees having a minimum of 3-5 years of experience have been offered about Rs 20 lakh as compensation.
"Majority of the remaining 300 employees are expected to accept the offer in the coming days. For the last one month, production from these units has been partly paralysed and employees were sitting idle," said sources.
When contacted, an RIL spokesperson declined