NEW DELHI - INDIAN business groups reacted in shock on Wednesday to the government's support for workers who beat to death the boss of the Italian company that had sacked them.

Former employees at car parts maker Graziano Transmissioni attacked chief executive Lalit Kishore Chaudhary at the firm's offices near New Delhi on Monday when discussions over a long-running labour dispute turned violent, police said.

Mr Chaudhary, a father with one son, was hit on the head with either a stick or an iron rod and was declared dead on arrival at hospital, they said.

India's labour minister declined to criticise the attack, saying it 'should serve as a warning for management'.

'Workers should be dealt with with compassion,' Mr Oscar Fernandes told reporters. 'The workers should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever happened.'

Media reports said workers were dismissed after they demanded pay rises and allegedly ransacked the firm's offices in Noida, an industrial district outside Delhi.

'I can't believe someone in the government is condoning something like this,' Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told reporters. 'An innocent man has died. I am frankly flabbergasted. I am shocked.'

The Confederation of Indian Industry said there was 'nothing in the world that can justify lynching of any person and no dispute can be settled by murdering an adversary.'

The groups said the killing would harm India's international business image.

Graziano, in a statement from Rivoli in Italy, said it was appalled at the violence, adding that it believed some of those involved had no connection to the company.

It said Mr Chaudhary, 47, was killed by 'serious head injuries caused by the intruders.'

'We absolutely condemn the attack,' Mr Marcello Lamberto, head of Oerlikon Segment Drive Systems, which owns Graziano, said in the statement.

'This is by no means a regular labour conflict but is truly criminal action. The whole of Oerlikon Group is close to the family of Mr Chaudhary in this terrible moment.'

The Italian embassy in New Delhi said the company had faced months of threats from the sacked workers.

'The situation had been repeatedly brought to the attention of the competent Indian authorities, both at central and local level,' the embassy said.

'Graziano Transmissioni, after many successful years, had been facing several months of violent forms of protests by self-proclaimed workers representatives.'

Business contacts visiting the company from Italy narrowly escaped the violence, The Times of India reported earlier.

'I just locked my room's door from inside. And I prayed they would not break in. See, my hands are trembling even three hours later,' Italian consultant Forettii Gatii told the paper.

More than 130 people have been detained over charges ranging from rioting to murder.

The district of Noida is also home to multi-national firms such as Honda, LG Electronics and Moser Baer. -- AFP