Tayo Rolls, a Tata Steel subsidiary based in Gamharia, adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district, on Monday announced the closure of its operations under The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Managing director of Tayo Rolls K. Shankar Marar, at a hurriedly called news conference in the evening, said a decision to this effect had been taken at a meeting of the company's board of directors in Calcutta earlier on Monday afternoon.

According to Marar, a decision was also taken to revise the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) which was earlier introduced by the company from June 1 to July 15. The previous VSS had a provision of paying 18 months' salary.

The new VSS, to be introduced from Tuesday for 15 days, will be more attractive, he said. The employees opting for it would get 32 months' salary, which amounts to a hike of about 80 per cent.

Several benefits were also added to medical and housing schemes, Marar added.

A company source said there were very few takers for the earlier VSS. Less than 200 of the existing 673 Tayo Rolls employees had opted for it.

Tayo Rolls, promoted in 1968 in collaboration with Yodogawa Steel Works of Japan, manufactured both cast and forged rolls from iron ore for use in steel-making and in other engineering industries.

However, since 2008, the company started incurring heavy losses. Finally, its board of directors decided to refer the company to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in February 2016.