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Indian truckers end nationwide strike

NEW DELHI, April 23 (Reuters) - Indian truckers said on Wednesday they had called off a nine-day strike that paralysed freight movement nationwide following talks with the government.

"The strike has been ended across the country," said Gopal Naidu, a member of the negotiating team of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the country's biggest truck union with 2.7 million vehicles in its fold.

Naidu would not give any details about the settlement with the government.

The strike, which business groups estimate cost wholesalers, retailers and industry 15 billion rupees a day ($317 million), crippled deliveries, created food shortages, paralysed ports and halted component shipments to factories.

The AIMTC launched the strike to back demands that included calls for a halt to frequent fuel price hikes, immunity from a planned Value Added Tax, an end to toll fees and minimum freight rates.