Perishable items may rot

States in southern and western India have been worst hit by the crippled delivery network, while the capital, Delhi, has remained relatively unaffected.

Nearly three million trucks and buses are off the roads across the country in protest at higher fuel costs and a proposed new tax.

India's transport minister has urged the truckers to resume talks, but he said the government could not accept all of the strikers' demands.

"We have no major disagreements and I think there was no need for this strike," BC Khanduri told reporters on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the government lowered the price of petrol and diesel by a rupee, but the move failed to appease the strikers.

We can handle deliveries only for another two to three days Bombay port secretary Saroj Tahiliani

"We are not satisfied with the reduction," the Indian Express newspaper quoted JM Saksena of the All India Motor Transport Congress as saying.

"The price of diesel should be reduced by at least 7.5 rupees (15 cents) a litre."

Components hit

Some estimates say the strike is costing the government 100 billion rupees ($2.1bn) a day, while the transport industry could lose about five billion rupees ($104m) daily.

Mr Kanduri denied the strike was causing a shortage of essential commodities, but media reports say cargo is beginning to pile up at the ports.

Port officials in Bombay say they can handle deliveries for only another two or three days.

If they don't stop the strike soon enough, I will soon not have any vegetables to buy Bombay housewife Perviz Engineer

"About 80% of our storage capacity is full," port secretary Saroj Tahiliani told Reuters news agency.

The country's biggest car maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd, a Suzuki subsidiary, said it might temporarily shut down production as the stoppage had hit component supplies.

Rising prices

The cost of food and vegetables is reported to have increased by as much as 50% in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states and in the city of Bombay (Mumbai), India's financial capital.

Movement of coal and other goods has also been affected, hitting labourers who earn daily wages.

Perviz Engineer, a Bombay housewife, said many vegetables had already disappeared from her local market.

"The ones that are there are very highly priced. If they don't stop the strike soon enough, I will soon not have any vegetables to buy."

Business too has been affected as people find it difficult to ferry their goods across from one place to the other.

Trucks and buses are off the roads

Anwar Hussein is a glass dealer who usually uses private trucks to get his material delivered to various clients but ever since the truck strike, he says business has been difficult.

"The problem is since I deal with bulk material, I need these vehicles to take my material across all over the city but since the strike, not only am I unable to send the material across but also the cost factor."

Authorities across India have taken steps to ensure that the disruption is minimal.

In Tamil Nadu, the government pressed buses into service to transport food and other essential supplies.

In the capital, Delhi, arrangements have been made with farmers and dairy owners to bring in milk, vegetables and fruit in small trucks that are not covered by the strike.

VAT row

The truckers are protesting at taxes and diesel prices

The truckers are protesting at recent increases in diesel prices, and the national government's plan to impose a uniform value added tax (VAT) system.

VAT will replace varying tax systems across India's nearly 40 states and national territories.

It is designed to discourage tax evasion since it requires traders and truckers to routinely submit details of their sales and the tax they pay to authorities.

The truckers say VAT should not apply to them since they are not traders.