The Deputy Commissioner/Magistrate

Dated: 25th March, 2020

APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION FROM SHUTTING DOWN PLANT/FACTORY AND PERMISSION

TO EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE WORK

Sir,

Our Company is engaged in the business of Glass manufacturing since 19__ with our Factory
situated at ____. Since its establishment the Factory has not been shut down for any period
longer than 2-3 days and we employ a workforce of over three hundred men, earning between
Rs.17,000/- to Rs.65,000/- per month depending on their occupation/category. We produce a
variety of glass products and paid over Rs.___ in taxes for the FY2018-2019. We export our
products to over dozen countries earning over a Million US Dollars in Foreign Exchange per
year.

Pertinently, the core of our Factory/Plant is a state of the art, sophisticated and expensive Glass
Furnace and to which the employment and interest of all other stakeholders in the Company
are directly connected. A Glass Furnace by its very nature is a unit which cannot be simply shut
down or re-started at whim. By its very design and specifications the Furnace is to be kept
operational with continuous supply of fuel and raw material for 8 to 10 years, which represents
the lifetime of a Glass Furnace and if for any reason the Furnace is shut down for over 24 hours
it is rendered inoperative. To restart the Plant a new Furnace will need to be commissioned and
replacement and service costs and times in our estimates shall exceed Rs.200 Million and take 4
months depending on availability and import of the compatible Furnace and equipment. Our
current Furnace was installed in the year 2015 and has only reached its mid-life.

If the Plant is required to shut-down due to unavailability of labour and non-production, we

estimate our losses to exceed Rs.500 Million and loss to labour and their earnings over Rs.100
Million as the Plant can then not be re-started for at least another 4 months.

In view of above, we request your good office to consider exempting the Factory from closure
and permitting its employees to continue work. We completely understand, acknowledge and
appreciate the threat posed by the epidemic to our Nation and wish to extend whatever
support we can in any shape possible to the community we are engaged with. We request a
meeting in order to present our proposals under which our Factory and Furnace can continue to
operate and the health, safety and lives of our employees can be secured. Our proposals
include cutting down production and to engage only the minimal labour required to keep the
production going while maintaining highest health and safety standards. We can also arrange
boarding and lodging of our volunteer workforce for any period that they may to work at the
Factory.
The bare minimum but continuous operation of the Factory and Furnace shall enable the
Company to avoid severe financial losses and the possibility of closure; and support hundreds
of workers who cannot make it to work and desperately need to support their families in this
unfortunate time.

Regards,