REL contract workers on strike in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Reliance Energy Ltd, India's third- biggest utility by sales, on Thursday said as many as 500 workers have gone on strike in the suburbs of Mumbai, the country's commercial hub.

The workers, part of its 4,500-strong contract labor force, want to be made permanent employees of Reliance Energy, spokesman Vivek Devasthali said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Some workers forced the company to stop repairs at Mumbai's Chembur, Vikhroli and Goregaon areas and attacked employees, he said.

Reliance Energy, the city's main electricity supplier to retail customers, has sought help from the police to continue monsoon-related repairs in various suburbs, Devasthali said.

The rainy monsoon season runs from the beginning of June to the end of September.