Tuesday 17 November 2020

'Punjab Industry Suffers Heavy Losses Due to Farmers’ Agitation'


By 121 News

Chandigarh ,  17 November 2020 :  'The Punjab Industry is suffering heavily due to current farmers' agitation' said Karan Gilhotra, Chairman of Punjab State Chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

  He added that the Industry was on the path of the revival in the State after the lockdown due to COVID-19, However, due to current agitation by the farmers in the State and resultant rail blockade, the functioning of the industry in the State has been seriously affected. Due to the non-movement of containers and rail goods traffic, the supply chain of the raw material and finished goods is affected badly since last one month.

 The Power plants are facing acute shortage of coal forcing them to impose power cuts on industry. As a result, the prices of raw materials like pig irons and fuel prices have increased many times and stocks are  getting depleted. The movement of containers for Import-Export operations is highly disturbed and the Import/Export orders and payments are getting cancelled. Hosiery industry which is well established in the State had reported a loss of around Rs 8000 Cr due to shortage in supply of raw material.

A rough estimate of loss to industries due to blockade of rail movement is estimated to be around Rs 25,000-30,000 Cr, However,  the actual loss will be more than that as cancellation of export orders and corresponding loss can only be ascertained at a later stage. Therefore, we urge the Government to resolve the issue and save the Punjab industry from huge loss and resultant economic breakdown and labour unrest.

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