KOCHI : In the wake of the proposed plan to relocate the High Court and associated offices to Kalamassery, the HMT Employees Union, affiliated with CITU, has urged the state government to ensure that the land price be made available to the Kalamassery-based HMT Machine Tools for future development of the area. Despite the Kalamassery unit being spun off as a separate entity later from HMT Ltd, the original land allocated to the company remains with the HMT Ltd.
The government has already identified 27 acres of land owned by HMT in Kalamassery. The objective is to establish state-of-the-art international-level institutions and systems, including a Judicial Academy and Mediation Centre, alongside the High Court in Kalamassery.
In a press statement, R Krishnadas, secretary of the HMT Employees Union, stressed the importance of the allocation and highlighted its potential to significantly propel the industrial growth of Kalamassery.
Furthermore, the union highlighted the current workforce situation, noting that while 3,500 employees were previously employed across three shifts, only 130 permanent employees and 250 contract employees remain. Despite this reduced workforce, the unit continues to operate profitably.