Hard-hit sectors of Indian Economy

As India’s population suffers from surging COVID-19 cases, the economy may not be far behind. The spike in the number of cases has taken a huge toll on different sectors of the economy. Here are few hard-hit sectors of the Indian economy-

Photo: Prashanth Vishwanathan | Bloomberg

1. Agriculture: The second wave entered the rural landscape of the country. Rural areas in the state of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala were the worst impacted. The situation further aggravated, due to the inadequacy of medical infrastructure and systems in the rural areas. Due to this rise, APMC Mandis were closed for operations during the peak harvesting season. Specifically, closed Mandis in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra hit the sector hard. The average wage growth for the agriculture sector from November 2020 has reduced to 2.9 percent (2nd wave) from 8.5 percent in April to August 2020 (1st wave).
2. Manufacturing: Some sectors suffered in the second wave, whereas on the other hand sectors like manufacturing suffered the repercussions in both the first and the second wave. Non-essentials manufacturing was hit for longer and with more severe restrictions. The global and local supply chains had also not fully normalized even after the first wave. According to the IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in May 2021, PMI slumped to 50.8 from 57.5 reported in February. It is at a ten-month low.