Continuation of truckers' strike, which entered the second day today, can push inflation by 50 basis points on account of shortage of perishable goods and panic buying by traders, said city-based think tank National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).
"If the strike continues for three to four days, there would be a rise of 50 basis points in inflation," senior fellow at NCAER Rajesh Shukla said.
Inflation has dipped to a 10-month low at 6.38% for the week ended December 20, after touching a peak of around 13% in August.
Shukla further said as the agricultural output, particularly vegetables and milk are getting affected due to the strike, there could be shortage of perishable goods in the coming days.
Similar views were expressed by Research and Information System (RIS) Director-General Nagesh Kumar, who said if the strike continued for two to three days, prices of some commodities would go up, especially that of perishable goods like fruits and vegetables.
The effect of the strike could be felt in the capital. Incoming traffic in the national capital's Azadpur Mandi, Asia's largest wholesale vegetables market, was a notch lower than usual -- an indication that only vehicles that were already loaded were coming in, traders said.
"Only 90-95 trucks came in today against the usual 100-120 and the supplies were sold with speed," Azadpur Onion and Potato Merchants' Association President Trilokchand Sharma said, adding there were signs of panic buying.
The nationwide indefinite strike by truckers entered the second day today, even as the government threat to cancel permits of agitating truckers failed to yield any result.
