Govt express displeasure with Adani , Adani Cement rejects Sukhu Govt subcommittee freight proposal
Industries Minister Harshvardhan Chouhan presided over a meeting organized with Truck Operators Union Barmana and Darlaghat and Cement Company Management here today. Speaking on the occasion, the Industries Minister said that the aim of the state government is to bring a consensus between the Truck Operators Union and the Cement Company Management, so that the cement plants can resume their operations smoothly.
He said that the government has expressed its displeasure with the company management and its owners and it is the priority of the government to make these plants operational at the earliest. He said that the episode caused huge financial loss to the state government, besides the truck operators were without work for more than a month. He said that people who are directly and indirectly associated with the company are struggling for their livelihood.
It is the effort of the government that both the parties start working with mutual consent and they have assured cooperation in this regard. The Industries Minister said that the discussions held in the meeting and the fruitful results will be informed to the Chief Minister soon. On this occasion, Director Food and Supplies Department K.C. Chaman, Director Industries Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, Director Himachal Road Transport Corporation Anupam Kashyap, truck operators and representatives of Adani Company were present. Several rounds of talk have been held to end the impasse and state government also supported cause of truckers. State government officials have stated that cement plants are being set up after massive displacement of landloser and cooperative society was constitued under a agreement to run the transport. State government spokesperson said that it have decided to notify the freight charges proposed by the subcommittee and company has been asked to respond to the freight charges soon. It has been categorically stated to company to mention clearly if it is interested to resume operation of plants or not.Adani Cement which controls ACC Bharmana in Bilaspur and Ambujaja cement plant at Darlaghat in Solan district did not agreed to the freight proposal a subcommittee constitued by the Transpoter and Industry Department of Himachal Pradesh for resolutions of industrial dispute and fixed freight rates of cement and other raw material for both plants. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government was forced to withdraw Supply of Goverment cement as plants stopped production of cement in both plants on December 18. Goverment issued notice to Cement plants for unilateral action latter a committee was formed to redolved the issue. Three rounds of talk failed to end the impasse forced Goverment to take consultancy to fix freight charges. In a press release issued here today Ajay
Kapur CEO, Cement Business Adani Cement (ACC & Ambuja Cements) state that company propose time bound measures for resolution of issues considering all the factors, the optimum km per annum would be 50,000 km. Company also repeated January 12, 2023 demand that both Ambuja and ACC’s requirement is 550 trucks as against the current deployment of 3311. Hence, it is proposed to phase out the excess trucks in the timeframe of next three years also allotting time frame of operations of 40K km 1st year, 45K km in 2nd and 50k km for 3rd year. Immediate moratorium on adding any new trucks. All operational decisions regarding transportation to be decided by the companies as is the practice in other states. Deployment, route, etc. to be decided by companies bar principles . In response to government ultimatum to company about cancellation of Mining lease Adani Cement stated that it is temporary closure and it wants to run the both Cement plants. Meanwhile Truck operators and local stakeholders organized Protest march in Bilaspur and Darlaghat. Truckers are rejected all allegations of Adani Cement plants stating that they are not ready to accept demands put up by company.
