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Kohinoor Mandal

"The company initially made a compensation offer, but the employees found it inadequate. Then it was doubled and everyone accepted it. The office was closed down on July 31 this year.''

KOLKATA, Aug. 15

JAPANESE conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation has closed down its office in the city "amicably'' after its 30-35 employees opted for a compensation package.

A senior bureaucrat in the office of the West Bengal Labour Commissioner confirmed this development. Talking to Business Line he said it was an "amicable closure'' and the State Government had been kept informed.

"The company initially made a compensation offer, but the employees found it inadequate. Then it was doubled and everyone accepted it. The office was closed down on July 31 this year'' the official said.

Incidentally, another Japanese organisation, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, closed down it local branch on August 6 without serving any notice. The branch had been operating since March 1953. The Kolkata office of Sumitomo Corporation was one of the oldest in the country belonging to the Japanese house.

Sumitomo Corporation's operations in India is managed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sumitomo Corporation India Pvt Ltd. Apart from New Delhi, the company has offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. The company is engaged in the procurement and supply of material and equipment necessary for different projects. It also identifies and engages Indian subcontractors for undertaking civil construction and commissioning activities for infrastructure and industrial projects.

Sumitomo Corporation also provides technical and business assistance to these contractors. It markets goods and services to Sumitomo's joint ventures in India. The company is associated with a number of projects either as financial or technical collaborators.

It is one of the world's largest trading houses. In December last, the company received permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to undertake cash and carry wholesale trading in India.

The company was also contemplating starting trade-related advisory services and after-sales services for its products in India.

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