Indian Transport Sector To Strike Over Diesel Price

The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which represents about 11.5 million truckers, transporters and bus operators, also threatened an indefinite strike if its demand for a rollback of the price hike is not met. “We are going on a one-day strike starting from the midnight on Wednesday. We want to let the country know what this government has done to us by raising the prices,” Gurinder Pal Singh, a senior AIMTC member, told AFP.

“We will wait and watch for the next five to 10 days. If there is no rollback, we will go on an indefinite strike,” he said. Singh expected nearly 75 percent of all cargo and passenger transport workers to take part in the protest on Thursday.The Indian government hiked the price of diesel by 12 percent last week saying it was a tough decision that had to be taken.

India buys in around 80 percent of its oil and the import bill has risen dramatically because of high global prices and a plunging rupee.