Shimla, Feb 1 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government stands with truck operators and will not tolerate their exploitation, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday told a delegation of transporters’ union representing truckers engaged by two Adani Group-owned cement plants.
Two cement plants at Barmana (Bilaspur district) and Darlaghat (Solan district) owned by ACC Limited and Ambuja Cements, respectively, have been closed due to a dispute over freight charges and operators engaged in carriage of cement and clinkers are on the roads.
The Adani Group, which owns both ACC Limited and Ambuja Cements, closed these plants on December 14, citing high transportation costs.
Sukhu urged the delegation to submit their proposed freight rates to the government so that it could take up the matter with the company.
The livelihood of thousands of people is connected with the cement plants and other activities. Therefore, the state government is committed to resolving this issue amicably, the chief minister said.
There are about 6,500 trucks attached to the two cement plants and the grounding of trucks has hit the livelihood of thousands of families. The only source of income of operators and their staff members has been blocked and they are facing acute financial problems, representatives of truck unions had said earlier.
Ajay Kapur, the CEO of the conglomerate’s cement business, had said in a letter to the chairman of the Permanent Standing Committee that the transportation market was completely controlled by the unions, which decide the rates and deployment of trucks.
This forced the company to close operations after the unions adopted an unworkable position on the freight rate and distribution model, he had said.
Representatives of truck unions said they were awaiting the report of Himachal Consultancy Organisation (HIMCON) following which the rates would be notified by the government. They said they hoped that the rates would be higher than the existing one. PTI BPL SZM
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