MUMBAI, June 23: Over 100 workers at Boehringer Mannheim's Thane facility have opted for the latest voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) offered by the new Ajay Piramal-led management as part of an ongoing restructuring exercise before its merger with the flagship, Nicholas Piramal.

The move is also seen as a final step towards the closure of the unit.The Thane unit employed 152 workers (before the VRS) and manufactured a range of drugs like Supressa (a cough syrup), Paraxin (an anti-typhoid drug) prior to cancellation of its formulations licence by the Maharashtra FDA last year.

Company officials told The Financial Express that the voluntary retirement scheme which opened in early June attracted 115 workers within the very first week and "going by current trends the remaining workers are expected to follow suit."

The VRS closes at the end of the month. Union sources confirmed that all 152 workers had expressed their willingness to avail of the voluntary retirement scheme.

The VRS package offered all workers 75 months salary (Basic + DA) or Rs 5.5 lakh whichever was lower. Union sources added that there were three grades based on the remaining number of years of service and the correspoding ceilings were Rs 6.20 lakhs (grade A), Rs 5.75 lakhs (grade B) and Rs 5.35 lakhs (grade C).

Though no transfer option has been built in for workers failing to opt for the voluntary retirement scheme , officials said, "If for any reason, a worker does not wish to opt for it (VRS), we will see what can be offered."As a next logical step, a voluntary retirement scheme will be extended to the office staff at Thane, he added.

All production activity which was being carried out at Thane would now stand transferred to Boehringer's state-of-the-art Mahad facility in Raigad district of Maharashtra. "Supplies of all Boehringer drugs have already been regularised," the official said.

The latest move is also expected to translate into a saving of about Rs 3-4 crore for the Piramals given the fact that the running cost of the facility was about Rs 6 crore per annum.

The cost of shutting down the Thane unit and the transfer of production to Mahad would cost the company Rs 1-2 crore.

Asked whether the management planned to dispose of the unit, officials said, "We are looking at various options which include a sale of the unit or putting it to other uses".

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.