NEW DELHI: Famous Indian cycles brand, Atlas Cycles, stopped all their operations on Wednesday, June 3, which falls on World Bicycle Day.

Atlas Cycles (Haryana) Limited in an official statement said that due to financial constraints, it was not in the position to resume manufacturing operations. Due to this, the company had decided to close down its Haryana's Sahibabad plant. Close to two lakh cycles were produced from the factory in a day, according to a worker.

The notice was pasted outside the plant and announced temporary lay off of its employees. This was met with shock by the employees who suddenly found the notice.

According to Mahesh Kumar, a leader of the worker union from the unit, thousands of employees will be affected due to the decision.

“This notice should have been given in advance, atleast a week before to the employees. We were called to duty for two days and then suddenly we found this notice pasted today. Many people will get jobless and will be forced to fend for themselves if the management goes ahead with this decision,” Kumar was quoted saying to a leading daily on Wednesday.

The company had already closed down two units in 2014 (Malanpur unit in Madhya Pradesh) and 2018 (Sonepat unit).

The Haryana-based company, which started manufacturing bicycles in 1951 by Janki Das Kumar in an improvised shed in Sonepat, Haryana. This was transformed into a 25 acre factory complex in a record period of 12 months in 1951. In the very first year of operation in 1951, 12,000 Atlas Cycles rolled out of the plant. By 1965, Atlas had emerged as India's largest cycle manufacturer.