Huge losses from fresh Maha lockdown, says industry body

Having barely recovered from the one-year pandemic lockdown, the fresh 15-day 'lockdown-style' restrictions in Maharashtra could lead to massive economic and business losses, the Mumbai-headquartered All India Association of Industries (AIAI) said on Wednesday.
"The restrictions will impact over Rs 7,500 crore tax revenues and the Centre will lose over Rs 15,000 crore if Maharashtra shuts for 15 days," warned AIAI President Vijay Kalantri.

He said that the two-week long lockdown could hit manufacturing output by as much as Rs 17,817 crore, and since Maharashtra contributes 20 per cent to the merchandise exports of India, this would hit exports worth Rs 18,900 crore.

Kalantri noted that Mumbai alone contributed a whopping 32 percent to the country's direct tax collections or Rs 350,000 crore annually, living up to its reputation as the country's financial capital.

"There are some 51,000 units in all MIDC areas in this state and together they employ 15.43 lakh people, plus there are another 5.70-crore migrants in the state, of which 2.10 crore or 37 per cent have come only for employment purposes," he said.

Accordingly, the lockdown phase would adversely affect investments, manufacturing sector, employment and other areas, he said.

To control the coronavirus surge, Maharashtra is under a new 15-day 'lockdown-style' curfew April 14-April 30, as announced by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray late on Tuesday. - IANS