<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Times New Roman",serif">The <b>All India Transporters Welfare Association
(AITWA)</b>, representing the primary road freight and fleet operators across
India, has issued an operational alert warning of an imminent rise in national
transportation costs. Following a <b>3% to 3.5% retail price hike for diesel</b>
across various Indian states, the logistics body stated that road carriers have
no alternative but to pass the escalating overhead burdens onto end-use retail
and industrial customers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Cumulative Operational Input Pressures<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The
Diesel Baseline</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: Because diesel fuel typically
accounts for <b>50% to 55% of total truck operating expenses</b>, the
national price hike (which saw diesel rise by roughly ₹3 per litre across
major metros) hits fleet operators with immediate effect.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Ancillary
Inputs Surge</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: AITWA National President Ashok
Goyal highlighted that the industry was already grappling with localized
supply pressures before the fuel adjustment. Notably, the market price of <b>Diesel
Exhaust Fluid (DEF/Urea) </b>mandatory for all modern BS-VI compliant
commercial vehicles has <b>surged by over 50%</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Other
Overheads</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: Transporters reported parallel
multi-week cost increases across essential operational inputs, including
commercial truck tires, compliance insurance, and national
highway toll charges.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Passing on Mechanism & Macro
Economic Ripple<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The
Freight Hike</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: In view of these overlapping cost
escalations, AITWA projects that surface freight rates across all major
interstate corridors will <b>increase by approximately 2.5% to 3%</b> in
the immediate term.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Inflationary
Pressures</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: Credit rating agencies and
macroeconomists echo the association's concerns. Financial models project
that the cascading impact of higher transport tariffs will add a direct <b>10
to 25 basis point (bps) lift to India’s headline CPI inflation print</b>,
potentially forcing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to adjust its annual
inflation forecast.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:
EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Transition Strategy</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:
EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">: To hedge against
prolonged global petroleum volatility, AITWA highlighted its ongoing
development of the <b>"AITWA Green Grid"</b> initiative. This
dedicated framework is accelerating feasibility studies and localized pilot
runs for alternative-fuel and electric commercial vehicles (EVs) to reduce
long-term dependency on traditional diesel corridors.</span>