Navigating The New Normal

As we resume operations at our sites in a phased manner, we have a robust preparedness plan in place. We have relooked at our internal policies to suit it to the current situation and have mapped all possible touch points with due caution, says Alain Spohr, Managing Director, Alstom India and South Asia

- Niranjan Mudholkar

How has the global pandemic impacted your industry and your approach to people?

The pandemic has put a severe strain on the Indian manufacturing industry, which contributes almost 15 percent of the GDP. Reeling under the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown, Indian manufacturing industry virtually came to a standstill across the country a few months ago.

However, the Government has taken due cognizance of the situation to enable manufacturing industries to function with reduced capacity and necessary safety guidelines. As we resume with partial withdrawal of the lockdown, the functioning of Railways and Metros becomes critical more than ever to ensure safe movement of people. Our teams are working with customers to help them resume operation and we are confident of honouring all our customer commitments.

As we talk, all our four factories in the country are functional and we have started deliveries of the electric locomotives to Indian Railways from our Madhepura facility. All our sites are maintaining high levels of hygiene and sanitation processes as per government guidelines. Employees who are currently remotely working will continue to do so, until it gets safer to get back to offices.

What are some of the key challenges you’ve faced in the current scenario and how do you plan to overcome them?