Exploring (De-)Regulation of Labour in the Automative Value Chain in Delhi-NCR

India’s auto sector contributes as much as 49 per cent to India’s total manufacturing Gross Domestic Product. The sector is deeply embedded with the Global Value Chains and is characterised by the spatial dispersal of production and supply networks. While the public and policy focus remains on the Original Equipment Manufacturers, a whole network of small workshops employing informal, casual labour is spread across the industrial landscape of Delhi-NCR and elsewhere, intimately linked with the Automative Value Chains. The development of such Value Chains has significant implications for concerns about the promotion of decent work conditions, effective regulation of the Value Chains, and ensuring basic human and labour rights.

We hereby present before you the following study on Automative Value Chain in Delhi-NCR. It focuses on three automative firms –an equipment manufacturer and two vendors – to bring to light the labour conditions in the Automative Value Chains.

The study examines the nature of employment relations, the composition of the workforce, modes of recruitment, work hours, access to amenities and social security in the sector. The study also examines the potential and challenges of regulating the Automative Value Chain, especially in the context of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.