New Delhi, July 26 (KNN) The nationwide truckers strike against the government for various issues, including a demand to rationalise taxes on diesel and reduce its prices, in accordance with the international market, has entered 6^th day due to which large number of states has been facing humongous loss in business and trade. KNN India spoke to MSME associations across the country to know the loss incurred by them due to the strike.

The ongoing strike has impacted Maharashtra trade and business badly as transportation of goods and services has come to halt. Being the business hub, the impact is large in Maharashtra, Federation of Indian Small and Micro Enterprises (FISME) President, Dinesh Chandra Tripathi told KNN.

Quoting the figures of loss, he said Rs 14 thousand crore loss is being estimated in last 5 days in Maharashtra alone due to the strike and simultaneously the strike of Marathas for reservation has added fuel to the fire.

Due to the strike, industrial units of Ludhiana have also claimed to be facing financial crisis and the industries have reached the brink of closure.

Badish Jindal, President of the Federation of Punjab Small Industries Federation (FOPSIA) said that most of the small units hold only 4 to 5 days of inventory. In this way about 60 percent of the units have reached the brink of closure.

Raising concerns over the situation, he said the association has written a letter to the central government seeking a speedy resolution of the strike of the transporters.

In down South, R. Raju Vice President of Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) informed that overall trade has been stopped due to strike.

Movement of goods from source to destination has been severely affected as large number of traders is not able to move any item either for exports or for local supplies.

He said that this needs immediate intervention of government otherwise situation will become worse for the entire nation.

CK Mohan, General Secretary of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA) said that due to ongoing strike traders are not able to make dispatches.

He said that trade is being definitely affected as without trucks transportation of goods is a big challenge.

Immediate repercussion cannot be analyzed in numbers, he added.

Meanwhile, while addressing the Rajya Sabha today Member of Parliament Rajeev Gowda said that ongoing strike is slowing down the economy and affecting multiple sectors including consumers.

He said that the truckers face tremendous loss because of e-way bill which is not being implemented properly and hampers the passage of trucks.

Because of delays at toll barriers they end up with this situation where there is a huge amount of delay and fuel is wasted by the trucking industry, he added.

He informed the house that the truckers' industry has already met the Ministers concerned but they are not satisfied with the response of the Ministers.

Requesting the government and ministers concerned, Gowda asked for pro-active response on this grave issue and urged them to consider the challenges introduced by the implementation of the GST in the context of E-Way Bills, etc., and provide remedy to the problems being faced by the truckers.

All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which claims support of 93 lakh truckers, started a nationwide infinite strike on July 20.