Govt To Assess Trade Impact From Coronavirus Outbreak This Week

As China remains one of India’s leading trade partners in Asia, the Indian market is about to be impacted across industries as imports and exports to China are blocked due to the coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19). In an attempt to assess the impact and disruption caused by this deadly epidemic to the country’s trade and Make in India project, the finance ministry has decided to hold a meeting on Tuesday (February 18). 

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted on Sunday (February 16) inviting industry stakeholders to discuss various solutions to enhance India’s trade relationship with the rest of the world.

Last week, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the chief economic advisor to the government of India said that the coronavirus outbreak in China provides an opportunity for India to expand trade.

Citing the example of India’s smartphone component manufacturing and export capabilities, Subramanian said that this could be a chance for India to start focusing on the export-driven model to further boost the Indian economy multifold. 

Impact Of Coronavirus On Business In India

According to official data on coronavirus Covid-19 global cases, there are 71,334 confirmed cases and 1,775 deaths recorded till date. In India, 17 people have been hospitalised in Delhi, for displaying symptoms of Covid-19 after returning from abroad.

The fear of coronavirus in China has hit the Indian business ecosystem really hard. Many startups and enterprises are facing a dearth in terms of cross-border trading, drop in sales and delays in raw material supply and crunch in workforce strength among others because of this epidemic. 

Covid-19 has impacted Indian smartphone manufacturers to a large extent. According to several industry experts and analysts, the smartphone manufacturers in the country will be witnessing a drop in the production, sales and delay in the launch of new smartphones in the coming quarter (April to June). Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is expected to witness a drop of 10% to 15% in production and sales of its smartphones. Apple, on the other hand, is already witnessing a crunch in its availability of the iPhone 11 Series in India.  

Earlier last week, one of the largest mobile events, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which was scheduled to be held in Barcelona between February 24 and 27 was cancelled as exhibitors and companies pulled out to fear of an outbreak.