Need stimulus to revive economy: Industrialists on coronavirus lockdown

Need stimulus to revive economy: Industrialists on coronavirus lockdown

Pune: While the industries are grappling with economic effects of coronavirus pandemic, industry experts are stressing on the need for a structured economic stimulus and focussing on hygiene, which will help Indian economy to recover.

Experts underlined the need for a phased lifting of the lockdown to bring economy in good shape and prevent the economic damages of COVID-19.

Speaking on the issue, Ashish Pradhan, Siegwerk India and Greater China President, said the lockdown has had a beneficial impact on the health situation of the nation related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“On the economic front, there is obviously a big impact on one of the world’s top five economies. To start stabilising the economy, there should be a gradual lifting of the lockdown, starting from essential goods such as food, pharma and hygiene products. That said, just producing food or medicines are not enough but reaching it to the consumers is an important part.”

“Therefore, lifting of the lockdown should be done taking into consideration, the entire supply chain, like the packaging industry, their raw material, and so on has to support the ecosystem. We have to definitely make sure that a limited number of people are called to work to produce these goods. As a second step, the lockdown should be lifted on non-essentials in a phased manner,” Pradhan said.

“This should be restricted to industries that are not very labour intensive to avoid exposure to too many people. As step three, the aviation, road and rail sectors should be opened up. This will give confidence to people that things are slowly returning to normal. This will help remove the fear psychosis in the common man. If these things are not acted upon quickly, it will take a long time to establish normalcy,” Pradhan added.

Speaking on immediate measures by the government, Pradhan added, “The government has to take strong measures to boost liquidity in the market. RBI has come up with some measures, but the government has to ensure these measures are actually percolating down to the SME business and the common man. The government must also ensure that the logistics and supply chain is smoothened out immediately.”

Uttam Malani, Executive Director of Centuary Mattresses, said the coronavirus would affect India’s economic growth severely, as the longer lockdown is causing significant disruption across a majority of the sectors.
 
“Post lockdown, companies need to implement a proper credit management system, control operational expenses, plan logistic management and streamline the labour/manpower management. Customer relationships will be significantly altered due to limited or restricted resources. 

“More particularly for the mattresses industry, the post lockdown is expected to bring relatively better business sentiment. The 40-day lockdown has provided a much-required opportunity to the people to assess their existing well-being and persuade them to focus on the hygiene factor”, added Malani.

Fighting slowdown
Experts underlined the need for a phased lifting of the lockdown to bring economy in good shape and prevent the economic damages. “Lifting of the lockdown should be done taking into consideration, the entire supply chain, like the packaging industry,” said Pradhan.

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com