GDP to take Rs 15 lakh crore dent from Covid-19 pandemic

India's overall GDP will take a `14.88 lakh crore hit from Covid-19, which will have a huge impact on employment across sectors, a white paper by the Ministry of Science and Technology says.
For representational purposes.
For representational purposes.

NEW DELHI: India's overall GDP will take a Rs 14.88 lakh crore hit from Covid-19, which will have a huge impact on employment across sectors, a white paper by the Ministry of Science and Technology says.
The document titled “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’ –post COVID-19” by Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous body under the Department of Science & Technology, analysed the pandemic’s impact on various sectors. 

“The expected import from China to India in FY20 is approximately five per cent of India’s GDP, value amounting to `8.5 lakh crores. If a major portion of this import is replaced with indigenously developed products, it would significantly reduce the expected GDP loss. The same can be done by following China plus one policy, strengthening the ‘Make in India’ initiative in identified sectors,” it concluded.

Covid-19 with global shutdown and quarantine has severely affected the supply side of the economy without collateral damage to the demand side and has impacted the majority of the sectors, noted the 84-page document. “The supply side in the sectors of mining, manufacturing, construction, food, entertainment and recreation has been badly impacted whereas in sectors like agriculture, textile, electrical equipment, education and healthcare services, the demand is not so affected,” it said, adding that in order to calculate the impact on demand, correlations between demand, lockdown and spread were taken into account.

The white paper captures sector specific strengths, market trends, opportunities, technology imperatives in five sectors crucial to the country’s perspective — Health, Manufacturing, Information and Communications Technology & Tele-medicines, Electronics, Agriculture & Food processing  — at a macro level. TIFAC Director Pradeep Srivastava said the document will help understand, evaluate and define the impact of the pandemic on the Indian economy and provide policymakers and public with the guidance that can be taken to mitigate the widespread economic shock and boost the Indian economy. 

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