In the domestic segment, demand is currently led by rural markets, oil and gas, LPG and B2C segments like roofing and sheeting.
Planters from Assam said despite the Covid-19 pandemic, trade enquiries from China had been rising. However, owing to the growing conflict, enquiries may dry up. 'We have seen how the trade dried up in case of the Pakistan conflict and fear the same,' a planter from Assam said.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed how businesses look at payments. Earlier, fintech companies said when they were talking to merchants, they were not interested in digitisation.
India's biggest firm, Reliance Industries, has decided to cut salaries by 10 per cent in its oil and refining divisions. Several smaller companies like Kajaria Ceramics have followed suit with cuts as high as 40 per cent for those earning more than Rs 50 lakh.
'There are 8-12 members living in the same accommodation. While in pre-lockdown days, since most were out on work, social tension among them was less because of limited interaction. But now, no food and livelihood, along with having to live in cramped conditions, is taking a toll on their mental health.'
'While OTTs are a reality, big film producers will prefer a theatrical release before a digital one.'
Export of mango, especially alphonso, to European countries has been negligible this season; shipments to the Gulf fell 40-50 per cent.
Developers are cautious about the timing of launches in the near term, given the relative uncertainty in demand pick-up and logistical challenges during the lockdown. However, affordable housing projects slated for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020-21 (FY21) may get launched this quarter itself.
During his interaction with the chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that more economic activities would resume; he also said that zone identification may be left to the states.
Except for laws pertaining to the payment of minimum wages, following safety norms and adequate compensation for workers in case of industrial accidents, no other provisions of the labour law would apply to all new companies that wish to operate in the state for at least 1,200 days, and for those that have already been operational for that period.
Experts say that the lockdown and its aftermath will further quicken the consolidation in the real estate sector, which has been taking place since 2012, with more small players going out of the business and bigger, branded players dominating the market.
The order, which set aside the August 9 ruling of a single-judge bench, prevented the group entities from publishing the voting results of the last AGM. However, the firms will now be able to execute decisions taken at the AGM last year. People in the know said the Birlas would appeal against the order in a higher court.
Though exports to Hong Kong, a major destination for India's polished diamonds, have resumed, the industry is currently sitting on an inventory worth around $2.3 billion.
The pandemic has resulted in a change in consumer lifestyles, with an increased focus on preventive healthcare remedies leading to a surge in demand for immunity-positioned supplements, including Ayurvedic medicines and products, as consumers pursue different ways to combat the virus.
Diamond industry expects revenues to drop by 20-25% in the current financial year.
Tea estates across Assam and West Bengal, which were hitherto closed owing to the lockdown, opened in April.
Industry officials say the crunch has not only affected manufacturing of edibles but even of items like nozzle pumps and other goods used in packaging.
With states in north India imposing stricter measures to curb intra-state movement after April 20, makers of summer products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, colas, and ice creams are estimating a 25-60 per cent drop in yearly sales.
The tea industry, hit by rising costs, falling prices and political unrest in the North Bengal plantations, is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Most listed corporate entities in the country are in a fix. With the sudden declaration in late March of a nationwide lockdown to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, the final calculations of their financial results for the year 2019-20 (FY20) are hanging in limbo. Till April 19, only 41 of the 3,947 companies listed on the BSE have managed to finalise the dates for the declaration of their yearly financial results.
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