Wipro switches off lighting unit in Karnataka for ever

Bengaluru: Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting division on Tuesday announced it has shut down its lighting plant at Mysuru owing to sharp decline in demand for CFL and increasing preference for LED products.

“We notified the (state) government and relevant authorities of our decision to shut down the lighting plant two months ago and complied with regulatory requirements,” said the company in a statement here.

The closure of the manufacturing unit resulted in the company offering voluntary retirement scheme for the remaining 84 workers.

Admitting that changing market and technology landscape in the lighting business had rendered operations of its Mysuru unit commercially unviable, the company said reduced demand for CFL saw production at the facility drop sharply over the past two years.

“We evaluated all options and kept the plant operational for a year at low production levels despite being economically unviable,” added the statement.

IANS