News Detail

• The tripartite talks to end the two-day old strike by bulk LPG transporters in southern states remained inconclusive today as the truckers sought time till Monday to take a decision on the offer by oil marketing companies to increase the per km rate marginally.Emerging from the marathon six-hour long talk that ended around midnight, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Consumer Protection Commissioner M T Basheer told reporters that the OMCs offered to increase the transportation charge from Rs. 2.23 per tonne per km to Rs. 2.50.

• But the representatives of the truckers said they need to discuss the offer among their association members and sought time till Monday evening to convey their decision, he said.Representatives of OMCs, including Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Southern Region bulk LPG Transport Association, which is spearheading the strike, the second since January, took part in the talks held in the presence of Basheer and other state government officials.

• Association President M Ponnambalam said their demand was Rs. 3.50 per km per tonne and hence they wanted to discuss the OMCs' offer with their office-bearers in Namakkal.The tripartite talks were convened today in the backdrop of senior executives and representatives from IOC and BPCL meeting Chief Secretary Debendranath Sarangi yesterday amid concerns that the latest stir is likely to hit domestic LPG, limping back to normalcy after the January strike.In January, the association had withdrawn their seven-day old stir after talks. But claiming that the assurances made then on their demands had not been honoured, they went on the latest strike since March 1.The association operates about 3,700 tanker lorries in four southern states, including Puducherry, besides Goa.

Source