The farmers' agitation against new agri laws will lead to economic loss of over Rs 70,000 crore in the December quarter owing to supply chain disruptions, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and border areas of Delhi, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday.
The chamber's president Sanjay Aggarwal said "the 36 days farm agitation so far will have more than Rs 70,000 crore economic loss in the Q3 FY 2020-21 due to...disruption in supply chains and day-to-day economic activities particularly in the progressive states of Punjab and Haryana and border areas of national capital Delhi."
The consensus reached between the government and farmers on two points -- penalties for stubble burning and Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020 -- is highly appreciable and the chamber looks forward to an early resolution of the remaining two issues as well, he added.
Talks between the farmers and the Centre remain deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
There are around 25 lakh MSMEs in Punjab and Haryana which employ more than 45 lakh workers contributing more than Rs 4 lakh crore in the total Rs 14 lakh crore GSDP (current prices) of Punjab and Haryana.
The GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) of Punjab and Haryana was estimated at Rs 5.75 lakh crore and Rs 8.31 lakh crore respectively in 2019-20, Aggarwal said.
Sectors such as food processing, cotton textiles, garments, automobile, farm machinery, information technology, trading, tourism, hospitality and transport have been severely impacted by the agitation which has disrupted supplies of many raw materials to the industry, he added.
Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhury/Reuters
