Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cement and ACC have urged the Himachal Pradesh government to free the transport sector in the State from the strong hold of union which decides not only the rates and deployment of trucks but also the trucks on which company’s material should be transported and the destination for each truck.

In a letter written to Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh, Ajay Kapur, CEO, Adani Cement said the situation in the State is so alarming that the unions are effectively controlling and making transport-related operational decisions that belong in the domain of companies.

Such unbridled control by the unions without any accountability has not only inefficiencies but also multi-layered complications in the sector with far-reaching consequences for all stakeholders. The recent closure of the companies’ (Ambuja and ACC) operation is an example of that, he said.

The distance covered by trucks in the State is just one-fourth of the national average (1 lakh kms) and one of the lowest in the country. The trucks in Ambuja and ACC units elsewhere travel 80,000 to 100,000 km per annum, he said.

It is important to note that the unreasonable interference by the transport unions is the biggest bottleneck for attracting investments to Himachal Pradesh, said Kapur.

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has passed scathing remarks against the functioning and undue interference of the unions, he said.

“We were forced to close our operations after the transport unions adopted an unworkable position on the freight rate and distribution model,” he said.

The optimum kilometer per annum would be 50,000 for calculation of the freight. However, in order to make the transition smooth and equitable, we propose to achieve this in a timeframe of 3 years.

Both Ambuja and ACC’s requirement is about 550 trucks against the current deployment of 3,311. Hence, he said it is proposed to phase out the excess trucks in three years with immediate moratorium on new truck addition.

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