Fruit, vegetables to get dearer, fear traders

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New Delhi: The nationwide indefinite strike called by truck operators to demand lowering of diesel prices and exemption from service tax had marginal impact on transportation of goods and services in most parts of the country on the first day. However, traders feared that prices of fruit, vegetables and other essential commodities could get costlier in the coming days if the strike persists as bulk of transporation in the country is through the land route.

In some cities prices of fruit and vegetable went up Monday because of the strike, but trader said actual impact would be felt in the next few days when the pipelines get dry. The truckers had not called off their strike at the time of going to press eventhough government headed to one of their demand and fully exempted certain taxable services provided to a goods transport agency from service tax by their sub-contractors. Meanwhile, wholesalers and traders said the biggest impact of the strike if it lingers on would be on prices of fresh fruit and vegetables as in most big cities supplies come from outside the city limits.

Already on Monday in capital Delhi, onion prices went up by Rs 40-Rs 50 per 40 kilograms in the Azadpur wholesale markets because of the strike and could push up further if the logjam persists.

Azadpur receives almost 85-90 truckloads of onions in a given day and traders fear that it might go down drastically in the coming days if the strike continues.

In Karnataka, around 3.6 lakh goods trucks went off the road from midnight in response to the strike call.

GR Shanmugappa, president of Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners Association (FKSLOA) said the truckers’ strike would cause a loss of around Rs 125 crore in Karnataka alone every day.

Around 7,000 trucks used to transport various goods to Bangalore alone while more than 30,000 trucks from various states pass across Karnataka every day. Now all these truck movement have been stopped. Traders said

Coffee exports from Karnataka, which accounts for more than 70% of the Indian coffee exports could also be impacted because of the strike.

In the country’s commercial capital Mumbai there was no perceptible impact of the truck operators strike on the first, but prices could move up if the deadlock continues.

“About 600-700 tracks and tempos arrived today at the APMC market. I think you can see some impact on supply front after two-three days,” Navin Bhanusali of Retail Transporters’ Association (RTA) said.

Traders said current stocks foodgrains; spices and pulses can last for 10-15 days. In the Posta Bazar wholesale market of Kolkata on Monday there was no sign of any slowdown in activity.

The market has 8-10 days stocks of essential commodities after which some impact on prices could be seen. Bablu Koley of Koley Market, one of the largest wholesale vegetable markets in the city said as most of the supplies had reached on Sunday night itself not much impact was seen on prices.

In Kerala not much impact of the strike was felt despite almost 90%-95% of the commodities consumed being transported from outside as fleet owners are not participating in the strike.