More than a dozen employees are believed to have tested positive for Covid-19 at pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited’s Dadra & Nagar Haveli, according to industry representatives. And the company is said to have shutdown operations at the plant temporarily, as a precautionary measure, the source added.
An official response to a query from BusinessLine on the development is awaited from Sun Pharma. According to insider sources, as many as 14 employees at the plant site had tested positive for Covid-19 since early this week. While the precautionary measure was to avoid further spread of the virus to its employees, the source said, employees may have contracted the infection from the neighbouring locality in Dadra.
Sun Pharma’s Dadra & Nagar Haveli facility is one of the largest formulations facility in India having USFDA approval for exports. The company manufactures a range of branded and generic formulations for India and overseas markets.
The Covid-19 spread among the employees of manufacturing facilities of the companies has been hurting the business operations. In May, in a tragic turn of events Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited had lost three of its employees, while more than 30 had tested positive for Covid-19 at its Dholka manufacturing facility. The company had to close its plant operations from May 6 for about 15 days.
Recently, more than 100 employees of Bajaj Auto's Aurangabad facility had reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 and two had succumbed to the infection. However, the company has kept the plant operations running with due safety protocols - as it is the largest manufacturing unit for Bajaj Auto employing over 8,000 people.