KOLKATA - Tyre maker Dunlop India’s Sahaganj unit in West Bengal re-opened Friday after remaining shut for over three months but did not resume production.

The Dunlop management had informed employees Tuesday through a notice at the factory gate about the resumption of operation, and said production will commence once the repairing and refurbishing of the plant is completed.

Around 75 workers reported for duty, top company sources said.

The management had earlier asked 229 workers of the maintenance and engineering division, out of a total workforce of over 1,200, to commence the repairing and refurbishing work.

‘As there have been quite a few cases of theft in the plant in recent times, 229 workers of the maintenance and engineering division have been asked to initially commence the repairing and refurbishing of the plant. On the plant being ready for regular production, workers will be inducted in different departments in a phased manner,’ the management had said in the notice.

The Pawan Kumar Ruia-owned company suspended production at the unit located in Hooghly district Nov 17, citing lack of demand due to the global economic downturn.

The company declared suspension of work at the plant, leaving the future of the over 1,200 workers in uncertainty.

The management has said banks have assured it of the working capital needed for running the plant in a sustained manner. The state government is also ‘actively considering’ giving some relief and incentives Dunlop had asked for, the management said.

Earlier, the company sought a Rs.100 crore (Rs.1 billion) loan from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC).

Kolkata-based Ruia group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia ventured into the tyre manufacturing industry in 2005 after acquiring Dunlop from the late businessman Manohar Rajaram Chhabria’s family.