As deadly coronavirus continues to shake up the world and claim lives, a report has claimed that 40-day lockdown is set to inflict $320bn loss on the Indian economy. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hit the Indian economy with about $320 billion in terms of daily gross domestic product (GDP) loss after 40 days of lockdown, said the report. The daily GDP of India is estimated to be approximately $8 billion.

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The impact has been severe on the travel and mobility sector with unicorns such as OYO, Ola, MakeMyTrip seeing massive revenue decline, said the report from DataLabs by Inc42. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, often called the backbone of the Indian economy, has had to shut small-scale factories, and is working with minimal workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the MSME revenue even more, said the "COVID-19 Startup Impact Report -- Threats & Opportunities For The Indian Economy". For some sectors, this pandemic has sounded the death knell, but the supply chain disruption has impacted manufacturing everywhere.
However, even amid these disruptions, some sectors have risen to the top owing to the behavioural changes in consumers.

The sudden surge in demand for services like hyperlocal deliveries, media and content, video conferencing and other enterprise tech applications will further enhance revenue prospects of some Indian startups in the coming fiscal years, said the report.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has suggested the government to provide more relaxations in the country's major economic districts during the extended lockdown period starting May 4.

In a report titled "A Strategy Note on Resumption of Economic Activities in Industrial Areas", the industry chamber said that the cost of prioritising actions in such districts would be much smaller in comparison with the economic loss if these businesses have to remain shut.

It noted that while the country fights the pandemic at a pan-India level with gradual relaxation for economic activities, there is a need to prioritise actions in the districts which have heavy industrial/economic activities. By doing so, the damage to the economy would be contained to a great extent, the CII said.