Ceat Ltd, India’s leading tyre maker, announced that it has temporarily closed its plants situated at Bhandup and Nashik in Maharashtra.

According to sources, the conglomerate has temporarily suspended its Maharashtra units to avoid inventory pile-up.

Company’s Bhandup plant will remain closed from Dec 26 to Dec 28, and Nashik plant will follow the shut down from Dec 25 to Dec 31.

According to company officials, during shut period, the proposed plants will continue routine maintenence operations.

The reports said that Ceat has also slash prices on its tyres by 3.6 percent after reduction in excise duty. It maintains that the volume growth for coming two fiscals would be through increased outsourcing.

Scrip of Ceat  closed at Rs 38, down 2.28 percent on National Stock Exchange (NSE). The total volume of shares traded on NSE was 76,247.