Salt prices soar as strike continues

West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam and other north-eastern states are facing an acute shortage of salt, as manufacturers in Gujarat have stopped availing of rail services from July 1.

The strike has resulted in a 15-20 per cent increase in salt prices in West Bengal in the last one week.

Almost 80 per cent of the total salt produced in Gujarat is consumed in West Bengal, Orissa and other north-eastern states. Almost two lakh tonne of salt is transported to these states every month from Gujarat.

Gujarat salt manufacturers are striking in protest against the use of a faulty electronic weighbridge by the Western Railway at Viramgam. They have been paying heavy penalty for the past several years for no fault of theirs, the players allege.

I C Gupta, one of the major salt importers in Kolkata, said, "If the strike continues, salt prices would almost double within the next 10 days and it will be difficult to provide salt at normal prices in all parts of the state."

He added orders for 30,000-40,000 tonne of salt are already pending for West Bengal as a result of the agitation.

Vijay Kumar Jain, another trader who imports salt to Assam and other north eastern states, said, "The situation will further worsen if the strike in Gujarat continues for long. We will not be able to provide salt at prices prescribed by the government."

S Sundersan, salt commissioner, Gujarat, said, "Usually, During the monsoon, salt production drops by around 25 per cent. However, we are trying to solve the problem as early as possible.

"We are going to discuss the matter with the railway ministry and hope the issues are sorted out."

"Our proposal to the ministry is to exclude salt manufacturers from detention charges and repairing the weighbridge," he added.

The state has approximately 5,000 small salt producing units and around 500 big ones. The total value of salt produced in Gujarat is around Rs 300 crore and western railways covers 100 to 150 rakes from Gujarat every month.