A hike in transportation charges has affected lignite suppliers, textile processors and the printing industry in Surat.
Lignite is one of the feed stocks used by the textile processing, printing and dyeing industries.
With truckers hiking transportation charges by over Rs 35 per metric tonne, the cost of procuring a lignite truck has gone up by Rs 500-600.
According to Navinbhai Suratwala, president, South Gujarat Lignite Suppliers and Transporters Association, the rise in petrol and diesel prices has already affected the textile industry on all fronts.
The Surat textile industry had turned towards imports of coal as the prices of lignite were on the higher side.
This resulted in the Gujarat Minerals Development Corporation (GMDC) initiating efforts to improve the sale of lignite to the textile industry.
Lignite comes to Surat from mines located in the Kutch district and at Rajpardi in central Gujarat.
There are over 450 big textile processing, printing and dyeing mills in Surat which use imported coal and lignite to fire thermopack boilers.
