• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Tunia Cherian George

Among the truckers demands are checks on diesel prices, roll-back of cess imposed on diesel, scrapping of toll tax and the roll-back of excise duty imposed on bare chasis.

MUMBAI, April 14

THE prices of sugar, fruits and vegetables have shot up over the past two weeks on account of a truckers' strike in Maharashtra.

The strike was called to protest a High Court judgement banning the use of trucks more than 15 years old.

The price of sugar has shot up to Rs 20/kg in the city, as supply has not kept pace with the demand. Vegetable prices have also risen by Rs 1-2 per kg on average. Fruit sellers have been quoting up to Rs 25-30 for a dozen of bananas. And small merchants have been transporting their goods by taxi on account of the strike.

However, foodgrain prices have not shown a rise as grocers usually maintain stocks for a week to 10 days. Mr Vijay Gala, Manager, Suryodaya, a small-size department store here, said the nationwide truckers' strike called by the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) would see prices of essential commodities rising further.

The Bombay Goods Transporters' Association (BGTA), which is supporting the AIMTC strike, said it would carry vegetables and milk for two days. Thereafter, the transport of these perishables may be suspended, according to the President, BGTA, Mr Raman Khosla.

The strike call was total across the country, he said, adding that in Maharashtra five lakh vehicles had gone of the roads.

Queried on how long the strike would last, Mr Khosla said it could extend up to 10-15 days.

Among the association's demands are checks on diesel prices, roll-back of cess imposed on diesel, scrapping of toll tax and the roll-back of excise duty imposed on bare chasis.

Talking about the strike's impact, he said it would "cause hardship to everybody." The truckers would, themselves, lose out on a significant volume of business, he said.

An AIMTC release says: "All the concerned Ministries have been apprised of the issues affecting the transport sector but they have failed to accord priority to it... We would like to continue our struggle for the survival of truckers, the majority of whom own single units."

The President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Mr Vijay G. Kalantri, said the State-wide truckers strike and the slew of holidays in the past week have caused losses of up to Rs 1,200 crore. He said export units and small and medium industries were facing a cash crunch because of the difficulties in transporting their export consignments. They were also running low on inventories, he said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
More Emirates flights from Kochi to Dubai

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line