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Earthmoving and construction equipment manufacturer JCB India is hopeful of a strong recovery towards the second half of the year.

"From a business standpoint, while we started the year on a strong note, expectedly we saw a disruption to the business cycle in May," CEO and Managing Director Deepak Shetty said.

"We are hopeful of a strong recovery towards the second half of the year."

At present, India suffers from a massive resurgence in Covid cases.

However, a decline in new infection rate had triggered hopes of an accelerated recovery.

Shetty said: "However, right now it is all about how soon can we vaccinate all our employees and their families, and scale up operations in a safe and sustainable manner."

Since April onwards, over 2,000 JCB India employees and their families have been vaccinated at camps held across its Ballabgarh, Pune and Jaipur facilities.

Besides, the company is now ensuring that all its employees in India are vaccinated over the next few weeks.

"Between April and May, as the second wave spread, JCB also saw a surge in Covid cases in its factories. JCB was one of the first to take the hard stance of temporarily pausing all manufacturing operations to stop the spread of the virus.

"Multiple Covid Control Rooms were set up to monitor Covid-19 positive cases. The company also extended a telemedicine facility for all its employees in different parts of the country," he said.

In addition, the company conducted over 7,600 tests during this phase and created a Covid relief centre on its factory premises.