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Deadlock between Adani Group, truckers takes political turn in HP
BJP’s Himachal chief Suresh Kashyap on Friday joined the protesting truckers when he was on his way to Bilaspur town to attend the wedding reception of party’s national president JP Nadda’s son
The deadlock between Himachal Pradesh truckers and the Adani Group that owns two cement companies in the state over freight charges has taken a political turn with the Congress questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for lending support to the protesting truck union members.
BJP’s Himachal chief Suresh Kashyap on Friday joined the protesting truckers when he was on his way to Bilaspur town to attend the wedding reception of party’s national president JP Nadda’s son.
State’s industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan has blamed the BJP for politicising the issue.“Instead of these tactics, the Opposition leaders should sit across the table with the government to chalk out an amicable solution to the deadlock, which is costing the locals, who are dependent on the cement plants for their livelihood, heavily, “ he said, adding that the government was only acting as a facilitator to resolve the dispute between the truck unions and the Adani Group.
“If the need arises, the government will not hesitate to seek legal recourses. “We as much want the company to run the plant as much the government wants to protect the interests of the local transporters,” Chauhan said.
He also contradicted the statement of chief parliamentary secretary (industry) Ram Kumar Chaudhary, who had said that the state government would amend the labour laws to regulate recruitment. He said there was no law which regulated recruitment in the industry.
The government has held several rounds of meeting with representatives of the truck unions and officials of the Adani Group, but all of them have remained inconclusive so far.
The Adani Group had indefinitely suspended operations at its two cement units -- ACC in Barmana and Ambuja in Darlaghat -- on December 14 after a dispute with truck unions over freight charges.
The company’s management has blamed the transporters for controlling all operational decisions related to the transportation of material. On the one hand, it has been stated that their “unbridled control without authority or accountability” is resulting in inefficiencies, on the other, truck unions have alleged that the Adani Group wants them to accept the rates, which were not viable.
There is no end to the stalemate as both sides refuse to budge.
In a recent communication to the chairperson of the permanent standing committee, which is working out the freight rates, transporters were blamed for “artificially keeping the freight rates very high to make a quick profit”.
The company wants the transportation market free from the control of truck unions and a moratorium on new trucks, besides swapping of cement bags between Ambuja and ACC units and other companies.
Transporters, however, say the Adani Group management must have weighed in factors like the number of vehicles in the fleet before they took over the two plants. The closure has impacted dealers in different ways ― UltraTech traders are witnessing a higher demand, while the ones dealing in Ambuja products claim that supply from the grinding unit in the state has been cut off and the ACC dealers are complaining that they have been forced to sit idle.
Representatives of two truck unions from Darlaghat and Bilaspur claim the freight rate that Adani Group is seeking is unviable for operations in a hilly region.
Adani’s impasse with the truck operators in Himachal Pradesh is now past the 40-day mark.
Of the three main demands Adani Group placed before the state government last Friday, one was the usage of 50,000km as the optimum annual calculation of freight charges. “This demand is not possible as the fuel ratio in hilly regions is low,” said Rakesh Thakur, president of Bilaspur District Transport Cooperative Society (BTDS). ACC operates the cement unit in Bilaspur.
