Daily Management Review

Indian business counts millions lost during isolation regime


06/15/2020


Millions of losses and complete uncertainty about tomorrow - this is how Indian businessmen describe the result of a three-month isolation regime in the country introduced in connection with the nocel coronavirus pandemic.



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An isolation regime was introduced in India in late March, when there were only 500 new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the country. In those places that are declared zones of distribution of coronavirus - where the number of diseases continues to increase - it is valid until June 30. In other areas, despite the fact that more than 300 thousand people were infected in the country, the authorities allowed to open temples, hotels, restaurants and shopping centers after three months.

Many explain the opening of trading floors in the country by the economic situation - according to the Ministry of Statistics, in fiscal 2020, India's GDP growth slowed to an 11-year low and amounted to 4.2% compared to 6.1% in fiscal 2019. The World Bank forecasts that in fiscal year 2021, GDP growth may reach 3.2%, which is lower than the bank's previous forecasts, which estimate India's GDP growth at 5.8%.

The current situation is affecting small and medium businesses, which, despite the threats of the coronavirus, cannot remain closed. So, stores opened in New Delhi, despite the fact that the Indian capital has been taking the third place among the regions of the country for almost two weeks in terms of the number of patients with the coronavirus. According to the latest data, the virus was detected in 38 thousand people.

In April, the Delhi authorities forbade residents of the metropolitan area to appear on the streets without masks. This decision was strictly enforced at first, including thanks to the police constantly on duty on the streets. Later, however, with the onset of heat, increasingly more people started taking to the streets without personal protection.

The situation is similar in large shopping centers located outside the city: usually crowded shops are now almost silent and visitors are rare. Here, as well as in the center of New Delhi, some of the shops are closed, and the staff, before letting cars into the parking lot and allowing visitors to enter the shopping center, check their temperature and offer to use hand sanitizer.

Meanwhile, there is no reason to hope for an early lifting of the restrictions. According to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, the authorities of the Indian capital believe that there can be about 500 thousand patients by the end of July in Delhi alone.

source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com