india will be under lockdown for the next three weeks to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, triggering fears among traders and businesses dealing in non-essential commodities. During the lockdown period, only shops selling essential commodities such as grocery, milk and medicine will stay open, filtering out any other shops/services dealing in non-essential goods.
Retailers dealing in non-essential goods are now extremely worried about shutting shop for a duration this long as uncertainty rises over the economic impact of Covid-19. Experts agree that a lockdown stretching three weeks is necessary to contain the virus, which has wreaked havoc across the globe, but the financial impact of the move on small businesses needs to be considered as well.
Experts have pegged losses caused due to the three-week lockdown at Rs 9 lakh crore, which is almost four per cent of the country's GDP. Across industries, businesses are keenly awaiting Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement on a fiscal relief package. Thousands of companies have stopped production activities in india and remain uncertain about future activities. Commenting on the situation, arjun Bajaj, director of Videotex international, said, "We have stalled all our production activities and all of the Videotex international manufacturing units in noida will be shut till march 31 due to the lockdown."
