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Samsung India has rushed supplies to its centres all over the country. "We have already sent four-to-five days of supplies to all our regional offices," said Ravinder Zutshi, head (sales), Samsung India. He added that with festive occassions like Onam approaching, stocks in the Kerala market have been ramped up significantly.
According to Zutshi, Samsung will turn to alternative options if the strike prolongs. LG electronics too said it has sent a weeks supply of goods to all its regional offices.
"To minimise the impact of the truckers strike, we have sent extra stocks to our wide network of nearly 40 branch offices," said Salil Kapoor, head (marketing), LG Electronics India.
The two consumer durable majors depend entirely on road transport for the delivery of their goods.
Ballarpur Industries Ltd, the country's largest paper company, too has stocked all its stock points to the extent possible. It could take care of 4-5
Every production unit of the company is also trying to stock up as much raw material as possible, though there could be problems if the strike goes on for long. "Some chemicals have a shelf life of only 2-3 days," a company source said.
The tyre industry has said that it could lose about Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) in sales everyday because of the truckers strike. It is worth noting that almost 80 per cent of the country's tyre market is accounted for by trucks.
The truckers forum, which comprise of over 200 associations spread across the country, have called on an indefinite strike, opposing the union government's budget proposal to introduce a 10 per cent service tax.
Starting Tuesday, the forum has also stopped booking deliveries beyond 500 km. The forum since August 16, had stopped booking deliveries beyond 1000 km.
An estimated 5.5 crore (55 million) people work in the trucking business. The front comprise 168,000 truckers and over 2.7 million vehicles spread across the country.