MUMBAI - One person was killed and more than 70 wounded during a violent struggle Wednesday night between workers and management at a car factory near New Delhi, illustrating a sharp escalation in labor tensions. Nearly 100 workers were arrested, according to officials, and the wounded included two Japanese executives, the company said. This Maruti Suzuki factory in Manesar, about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, south of New Delhi, has been the scene of several industrial disputes since it opened five years ago, including a strike at the end of last year that shut down the plant for several days. Strikes and violent protests have marred operations at several Indian car, motorcycle and auto-part companies in recent years and a couple of the clashes have resulted in deaths. A spokesman for Suzuki in Japan, Ei Mochizuki, added that tensions had been running high because government labor officials had refused to recognize the workers" union and the company had declined to take back workers fired during a strike last year. Mr. Mochizuki identified the employee who died as a human resources officer. A doctor at the General Hospital of Gurgaon said the man's body was badly burned. The police and government labor officials Thursday backed the company's story, describing the protest as a "conspiracy" and promising to arrest workers and union leaders who they said were in hiding. Mr. Meher and other union officials could not reached Thursday and their cellphones were turned off. The Indian auto industry has grown rapidly in recent years as the economy and consumer spending have taken off. The company is the dominant player in the biggest segment of the car market: small hatchbacks that sell for as little as 250,000 rupees, about $4,500. Those hired in such a way are paid a fraction of the salaries permanent employees earn - 7,000 rupees per month, compared with 18,000 rupees a month for permanent workers. Company executives deny abusive conditions and have said they hired entry-level workers on contracts and made them permanent as they gained more experience. The executives have also accused politically affiliated national unions of instigating protests. The company's troubled relationship with workers in Manesar suggests that it has had difficulty managing its growing operation. The company has had far better relations with workers at its first and primary factory in nearby Gurgaon. The company has offered slightly different numbers but acknowledged that a majority of its Manesar workers were temporary employees. In an interview in October, the chairman of Maruti Suzuki suggested that the employees at the Manesar plant, which can churn out 550,000 cars a year, protested more because they are more inexperienced than workers in Gurgaon, which can produce 900,000 cars annually. "The operating conditions in both plants were the same," Maruti's chairman, R.C. Bhargava, said. Some of them have been there even less than that; some are just trainees. The troubles come at a challenging time for Maruti Suzuki, which has seen sales slip as the Indian government eliminates subsidies on gasoline but maintains them on diesel fuel. Although Maruti Suzuki also produces diesel cars, it has the capacity to produce more gas-powered vehicles. On Thursday, shares of the company closed down nearly 9 percent in Mumbai as investors worried about the company's ability to recover from the protest. The company said it had suspended car production at its Manesar plant, which is being guarded by the police, and could not say whether the factory would be able to resume work on Friday. Hiroko Tabuchi contributed reporting from Tokyo and Hari Kumar from New Delhi.