Southern cement major, India Cements has further pared its employee strength by around 400 through the latest round of voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). "Ever since the company entered into the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) in 2003, over 1,400 employees were given VRS, including 400 employees now," N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and MD of India Cements, said. Speaking to the FE, Mr Srinivasan said the total employee strength has come down to 3,000 compared to over 7,000 in late 90s. With the reduction of 1,400 employees in the last three years, the company has saved substantially per annum, which in turn helped the bottomline to grow. According to the estimates, on an average the company will end up saving anywhere between Rs 6 crore and Rs 7 crore per annum. "We will consider further reduction in the manpower," Mr Srinivasan added.