Construction Industry News
Fourteen days after the Adani Group indefinitely suspended operations at two cement plants, Ambuja Darlaghat in Solan and ACC Barmana in Bilaspur districts, due to high freight rates, crucial talks between government subcommittee, truck drivers and company officials remained undecided.
A week after the shutdown, the government of Himachal Pradesh formed a sub-committee of officers comprising the Director of Industry, the Director of Transport and the Director of Food and Civil Supply to break the deadlock.
Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, Director of Industries, said discussions are ongoing at all levels. The subcommittee works out transportation costs that are mutually acceptable to both the companies and the trucking unions. At present, the transport rate per quintal of cement is Rs 10.58 per km in hilly areas and Rs 5.38 in the plains. The trucking unions and company officials held several rounds of the meeting following the standoff, but both expressed "substantial" differences. The company had initially offered Rs 6 for hills. The state government would like the Cement company to reduce the cost of cement in Himachal. Cement transportation cost is more in Barmana in Bilaspur at Rs 11.20 paise. The subcommittee will shortly submit its report to the government.
“Losses are heavy for both cement companies and truck owners. Each truck owner suffered a daily loss of between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000. Truck unions are waiting for the government to invoke the new freight rates. The government pays Rs 9.60 paise per quintals per km for the government's cement supply," said Jai Dev Kaundal, president of Solan District Transport Cooperative Society. Some 25,000 families depend directly and indirectly on the cement factory for their livelihoods. The company employs 530 permanent employees and 450 contract employees. The cement plant in Barmana employs approximately 3,800 truck drivers, of which 2,300 drivers are affiliated with the Bilaspur District Truck Operator Transport Co-operative Society and 1,500 with the ex-military association. Similarly, approximately 2,000 truck drivers work for the cement plant in Darlaghat.
The Himachal Pradesh government had sent a show-cause message to the two cement companies owned by the Adani Group. The show-cause message stated that the company had ceased operations without any prior notice to the state government, calling into question the livelihoods of thousands of stakeholders engaged in transportation and other related activities.
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