Day two: Lorry owners lose Rs 120 cr in Andhra

With the truckers’ strike entering the second day today, lorry owners in the state have lost about Rs 120 crore. Though a few lorries moved on the roads, various associations maintained that the strike had evoked full support from all lorry owners. Some lorries and DCM vans transporting fruits in the city were, however, damaged.

Hyderabad Goods Transporters Association president MD Sharma said, "The impact of the strike will be felt from the third or the fourth day as stocks of vegetables, fruits and essential commodities and consumer durables deplete.''

About 400,000 lorries stayed off the road in the state as part of the nationwide strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress. Trade circles estimate the revenue loss due to the strike at Rs 1,500 crore a day in the state.

The strike call, given by 4,000 associations affiliated to AIMTC, commenced from Sunday midnight. Transporters are demanding reduction in diesel price by Rs 10 per litre since crude oil prices have fell drastically, a uniform four percentage point VAT on diesel, reduction in tyre prices by 30-35 per cent and rolling back national permit fees from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,500, according to Andhra Pradesh Lorry Owners’ Association president C Raghavender Rao.

On an average, a lorry uses about 50 to 100 litre diesel in the state. On the higher end, Andhra uses 40 million litre diesel every day for Rs 150 crore. The state levies 33 and 22.25 per cent sales tax on petrol and diesel respectively.

“The government should fix the minimum freight fares for the lorries, as is the case with autorickshaws and cabs,” Rao said.

Tyre prices, which were around Rs 16,000 each, have zoomed to about Rs 26,000 on the back of rising crude oil prices, which is a key raw material for the tyre industry. But despite crude oil price falling to about $ 45 a barrel now there has been no roll back of the tyre prices.

There are about 235 toll collection points in the state and the goods carriers, on an average, pay a toll of Re 1 for every two kilometre on the highways.