New Delhi, March 30: India is in the middle of a 21-days nationwide lockdown and according to reports, more than one-fourth of India's 69 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) may shut shop if the lockdown extends beyond four to eight weeks. According to an Economic Times report, the MSMEs will stop functioning because they won't have the cash to operate.

Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) as quoted in the report said, "19 percent to 43 percent of the MSMEs may disappear if the crisis persists 4 or 8 weeks". 21-Day Lockdown Over Coronavirus to be Extended From April 15? Modi Government Rejects Reports on Extension of Shutdown.

The association for entrepreneurs said each sector will see huge job cuts. Venkatesan mentioned that the hospitality industry, which employs 4 crore people, could see 1.2 crores of those jobs disappear at the end of this crisis. On the other hand, the retail sector may face upto 1.1 crore job losses.

Earlier in the day,  after several media reports and rumours started floating on social media platforms claiming that the lockdown will be extended after the 21-day lockdown ends on April 14, the Cabinet Secretary denied any such development and stated that the reports are baseless.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2020 02:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).