The supply of ceramic tiles and sanitary ware from Morbi to all parts of the country and abroad will stop from Wednesday, as the indefinite shutdown of its units continued for the sixth day on Monday. Their protest is against high fuel prices and taxes.

"Despite our shut-down entering the sixth day, we have not received any response from the government regarding our demands. Therefore, we will go ahead with our earlier decision to cease dispatch of ceramic products from Wednesday onwards," Sukhdev Patel, president of All Gujarat Granito Manufacturers Association (AGGMA), a body of ceramic industry workers, told The Indian Express on Monday.

Patel said Morbi supplies 4,000 truckloads of glaze, wall and floor tiles and sanitary ware to different parts of the country on a daily basis. Besides, it also exports 60 to 70 containers of ceramic products daily, each container valued at around Rs 4 lakh. The Rs 22,000-crore industry is suffering a daily production loss of around Rs 35 crore from November 27, leaving around 2 lakh people jobless.

"The halt in supply is likely to affect the big real estate projects in major cities across the country. Housing projects will be delayed indefinitely, leading to delay in handing them over to buyers," the AGGMA president said.

Leaders of Industry associations agree that the image of the industry might take a hit due to the shut-down. "We are aware our credibility will be affected as we keep missing delivery dates. However under the present circumstances, there is no way to run the units and meet supply commitments," said Chuni Patel, general secretary of Morbi-Dhuva Glaze Tiles Association, another association of the ceramic industry.

The four associations of workers employed in the ceramic industry in the area made their charter of demand public last Wednesday.

Their demands include piped natural gas (PNG) at Rs 25 per standard cubic metre (SCM) instead of the current rate of around Rs 45, permission to run coal gasifier plants, which they claim is a cheaper fuel option, reduction in the value added tax (VAT) rate from the present 15 per cent to five per cent. They have also sought reduction in excise duty from the current 12.36 per cent to six per cent, in order to bring these two levies at par with other construction materials like marble or granite. Lastly, they want re-imposition of anti-dumping duty on ceramic products from China, stating the domestic industry would not be able to stand a competition.