(Adds strike impact on auto plants, port)
NEW DELHI, April 23 (Reuters) - India's striking truckers were set for more talks on Wednesday with the government to resolve a nine-day protest that has crippled freight shipments and said they believed a start had been made toward a settlement.
J.M. Saksena, secretary general of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), India's biggest truck union with 2.7 million vehicles, said the union met transport officials on Tuesday and were due to meet again late on Wednesday.
"We do see some middle ground and a beginning has been made," Saksena told Reuters. "We're keeping our fingers crossed."
His comments came as AIMTC's affiliate unions called off the stoppage in the states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Gujarat in what authorities said was a sign that the protest was losing steam.
The AIMTC launched the strike to back demands including 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.
The strike, which business groups estimate is costing wholesalers, retailers and industry 15 billion rupees a day ($317 million), has crippled deliveries -- creating food shortages, paralysing ports and halting component shipments to factories.
The talks resumed on Tuesday despite Transport Minister B.C. Khanduri's statement in parliament that the government would hold no negotiations until the truckers called off their stoppage.
A transport ministry official said the government held the discussions as it was keen to end the strike and wanted to show flexibility. He did not comment further.
While the two sides, who met briefly last week, are in agreement on most issues, the government has said it needs time to complete formalities before striking a deal.
The Indian unit of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it had been forced to suspend production at its auto plant on the outskirts of the southern city of Bangalore because the strike had hit the supply of components.
India's largest carmaker, Maruti Udyog Ltd, a unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp , said output at its plant in suburban New Delhi was about 20 percent below normal due to the strike.
Swedish truck maker Volvo , which also has a plant outside Bangalore, said it had enough stocks of auto parts to continue production for 10 more days.
Authorities at Kandla port, one of India's busiest, however, said cargo movement was nearly back to normal after some truck operators returned to work late on Tuesday, allowing the port to resume operations. (Additional reporting by Arif Sharif in NEW DELHI, Narayanan Madhavan in BANGALORE and Thomas Kutty Abraham in AHMEDABAD)