Around 200 licensed packaged water manufacturers in Thiruvallur and Chennai shut shops on Sunday to protest against the state government's move to close some of their units in the wake of the drought.
An additional 100 manufacturing units in Kancheepuram will join the strike on Monday, said V Murali, a patron of Greater Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association.
Members of the association said the indefinite strike is in response to a series of closures of water units by the revenue department in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram on the grounds that they did not have the permission to extract groundwater. Members of the Association say all these units have papers to show otherwise.
On a daily basis, the city and the suburbs see the sale of nearly 2.5 crore litres of packaged drinking water. Around 7-10 lakh 20-litre bubble-top cans are sold, with each unit trading around 2,500 such water containers.
The Association has also sough exemption from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the grounds that the segment largely caters to domestic customers. "We've been able to sell water at a reasonable price for more than a decade because we were exempted," said A Shakespeare, general secretary of the Association. At present, the cost of a bubble-top varies between 30-40 each. If the tax is included, the price could increase by 20, he said.
An additional 100 manufacturing units in Kancheepuram will join the strike on Monday, said V Murali, a patron of Greater Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association.
Members of the association said the indefinite strike is in response to a series of closures of water units by the revenue department in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram on the grounds that they did not have the permission to extract groundwater. Members of the Association say all these units have papers to show otherwise.
On a daily basis, the city and the suburbs see the sale of nearly 2.5 crore litres of packaged drinking water. Around 7-10 lakh 20-litre bubble-top cans are sold, with each unit trading around 2,500 such water containers.
The Association has also sough exemption from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the grounds that the segment largely caters to domestic customers. "We've been able to sell water at a reasonable price for more than a decade because we were exempted," said A Shakespeare, general secretary of the Association. At present, the cost of a bubble-top varies between 30-40 each. If the tax is included, the price could increase by 20, he said.