India’s domestic trade suffered Rs 15 lakh crore loss amid second wave of COVID: CAIT

The Confederation of All Traders of India (CAIT) said on Wednesday that the country’s domestic trade suffered massive trade losses to the tune of around Rs 15 lakh crore in the past 60 days due to the second wave of coronavirus and subsequent lockdowns by various states. CAIT also pointed out that for the first time, traders across the country are considering reducing the number of employees as they have been forced to cut establishment and overhead expenses due to the unaffordability of monthly expenses. recurring. If that happens, it will increase unemployment figures, especially when retailing in India has been described as the only source of disguised jobs and the only sector that provides exponential flows for self-employment in India, noted the CAIT.

“Based on estimated feedback gathered from CAIT chapters and major trade associations in the majority of states, the loss of domestic commerce and trade due to the second wave of COVID-19 for the country stands at approximately Rs 15 lakh crore, which is pretty huge. and a substantial loss as the total value of domestic trade in the country is estimated at Rs 115 lakh crore per year, ”said BC Bhartia, national president and Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of CAIT.

There are around 8 crore of small businesses in the country that are involved in business activities, providing direct employment for around 40 crore of people and various other people who depend on the business community for a living. Bhartia and Khandelwal said that out of the total business loss of around Rs 15 lakh crore, the retail format lost Rs 9 lakh crore while the wholesale business in the country suffered a loss of around Rs 6 lakh crore. Maharashtra is estimated to have suffered a trade loss of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore; Delhi around Rs 40,000 crore, Gujarat around Rs 75,000 crore; Uttar Pradesh approximately Rs 85,000 crore; Karnataka around Rs 70,000 crore, Tamil Nadu around Rs 80,000 crore and similarly the other states have also suffered substantial trade losses in the past two months.

CAIT said it is worth mentioning that hundreds of thousands of people are engaged in business activities in informal commerce and they have also suffered huge business losses due to the closure of shops and markets. Likewise, hundreds of thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers, commonly known as “karigars” involved in the production of finished products and supply to traders, have also been severely affected.

Both Bhartia and Khandelwal said that due to the severity of the financial crisis this time around, traders across India are seriously considering freeing up at least 30-40% of their workforce as they are not could no longer afford to pay their wages. Whatever the traders’ savings were, they were consumed in last year’s lockdown and as the country’s domestic trade was on the verge of rebounding, the business was attacked by a second wave of the pandemic of coronavirus and traders now largely consume their own capital. , said CAIT. Economic theories have taught us that “when you start to eat up your business capital, you must realize that your business is on the verge of collapse and immediate preventative action is needed,” the trade executives said. As a result, traders across the country will have no choice but to reduce their business expenses, including downsizing, they added.

“We call on the Prime Minister to come to the rescue of the business world and give us a substantial financial package to restore business activities after the lockdown. We are not asking for any loan exemptions but the supportive policies of the central government and the government. ‘State, temporary relaxations in statutory compliance and ease of restoring business,’ added Bhartia and Khandelwal. However, when drafting such a package, traders should be consulted, trade executives said. The two leaders said that traders are not the responsibility of the Union. government alone, but state governments are also responsible for their respective state traders, and states should also design a similar package for the trading community.