New Delhi: The strike by coal workers' unions would impact industrial growth across the country, industry chambers said Wednesday while asking the agitating trade unions to resolve their grievances in an amicable manner.
"The strike would impact industrial growth across India especially in power deficient northern and southern regions, resulting in long unplanned outages," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
"The strike would impact all industries based on coal including the cement industries that are already reeling under pressure of raw material prices," he added.
Over 75 percent of India's daily coal output has been hit as the five-day strike by workers of state-run miners entered the second day today, raising fears of disruption in power supplies.
The industrial action is in protest of "disinvestment and restructuring of state-run Coal India" and to press for demands, including the roll-back of what unions call "process of denationalising of coal sector."
Appealing to all trade unions to call off their ongoing strike, PHD Chamber President Alok Shriram said that they should sit on negotiation table with the government to resolve their concerns and grievances in an amicable manner.
The new government has begun an exercise to reform India with progressive and modest policies to put it on the path of accelerated growth and any sort of agitation and strike to oppose and obstruct the evolving policies would harm the country's economic interest, he said.
"The path of strike serves neither workers nor the policy makers, therefore, the working class of Coal India ought to seek redressal of their grievances through negotiations," he said.
