Japan today condemned the violence and vandalism at Maruti Suzuki car plant near New Delhi.
In the violence, one executive was killed and 80 employees were injured.
The carmaker Maruti Suzuki is majority owned by Japan’s Suzuki. Company is the top car maker in India.
A workers’ union leader said that the violence erupted after a supervisor insulted one worker who belongs to India’s lowest social caste. When he and other workers protested, company called in "hundreds of bouncers on its payroll to attack the workers".
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi said that it: "strongly deplores the loss of life including one death and scores of injuries caused by the sabotage perpetrated by a group of workers of Maruti Suzuki India".
The latest dispute is a big blow for Maruti, whose profits slid 29 per cent last year on the back of labour disputes and a slowdown in Asia’s third-largest auto market.
The plant produces 1,000 of Maruti’s top-selling cars Swift and A-Star hatchbacks and SX4 sedans everyday.
