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Informality in the Indian Automobile Industry

In: Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy Kerswell

    (University of Macau)

  • Surendra Pratap

    (Director, Centre for Workers Education)

Abstract

This chapter questions informality in India’s automobile sector, applying commodity chain analysis to explain why the sector is beset by informality, low wages and insecure working conditions. It illustrates how leading firms in India’s automobile industry, with the connivance of the Indian state, exploit the automobile commodity chain marginalizing both subordinate firms and contract/casual workers who make up most of the industry’s workforce. India’s automobile industry structure locks workers and firms into insecure work, with productivity gains consumed by leading firms, further reducing margins of lower-level suppliers and wages of workers. This qualitative study of Haryana’s automobile sector demonstrates why when the demand for vehicles in India is growing, wages and conditions are not improving. It concludes that India’s industrial relations regime has long ceased to reflect the actual balance of power between labour and capital, institutionalizing non-compliance with the labour law, and providing the basis for the industry’s informalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Kerswell & Surendra Pratap, 2019. "Informality in the Indian Automobile Industry," Springer Books, in: K. R. Shyam Sundar (ed.), Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India, chapter 0, pages 187-209, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-13-7111-0_7
    DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_7
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