UPDATE 1-Suzlon slashes jobs at U.S. plant as orders fall

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By Ami Shah

MUMBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd (SUZL.BO) has decided to slash 160 jobs, or more than half of its workforce at a U.S. plant, following a drop in orders, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

"There has been a slowdown. There's not enough work to keep all people busy," Vivek Kher said over telephone, adding the workers would leave in batches between now and August.

The manufacturing facility in Pipestone, Minnesota, makes rotor blades used in wind turbines and has 300 people on its payroll, he said.

"The orders in the U.S. have shrunk for the moment as it has for several other businesses," Kher said.

Suzlon, the world's fifth-biggest wind turbine maker, has nearly 1,000 staff in the United States, and around 14,000 globally, including its subsidiaries REpower Systems (RPWGn.DE) in Germany and Belgium-based Hansen Transmissions (HSNT.L).

Suzlon has no plans for more job cuts as of now, Kher said.

At 2:14 p.m. (0844 GMT), shares in Suzlon were trading 1.1 percent lower at 122.45 rupees in a Mumbai market .BSESN which was down 0.2 percent. (Additional reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)