With the truckers’ strike entering the sixth day on Saturday and the truckers’ union refusing to withdraw the stir until their demands are met, it is feared that the real estate, commerce and industry sectors will be hit severely. At a time when the country is reeling under recession, the stir has added fuel to fire and consumers are feeling the heat of cost escalation of essential commodities. Speaking to The Express, D Muralidhar, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said if the truckers’ stir continued for another two to three days, the manufacturing sector, services and trade with a total turnover of Rs 2,000 crore per day in the state, would be badly hit. It is said that in Bangalore alone, business loss would be to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore a day.
“Initially the loss would be 10 to 15 per cent and if the strike continues, the situation will worsen,” Muralidhar said.The impact of non-availability of petroleum products due to oil strike had already affected the commerce and industry sector. However, the withdrawal of oil strike on Friday night gave a respite to the industries. Muralidhar said that there was a marginal impact of the truckers’ strike now and was manageable provided the strike ended at the earliest.
Suresh Hari, secretary of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India – Karnataka, opined that if the deadlock between the transporters’ body and the government was not resolved, then there would be cost escalation of building construction raw materials in the coming days. “At a time when the real estate industry is going through a correction phase, the strike will definitely affect the industry,” he added. Depending upon the size of the projects, raw materials have been stocked up to face the crunch. “However, if the strike continues, many projects will run short of stocks, thereby bringing the construction activity to a screeching halt,” Hari said.
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