Kashmir faced business losses of Rs 45,000 cr in past one year: KTA
Srinagar : The Kashmir Trade Alliance (KTA) on Sunday said the five-month-long lockdown had dented the Valley’s economy by another Rs 21,000 crore and the total loss for the last one year has been around Rs 45,000 crore.
According to an online report released by the Trade Alliance on Sunday, businesses in the Valley have suffered a total loss of Rs 21,320.64 crore in the last five months as a result of the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the CODID-19 pandemic since March 18 this year.
The Alliance said the final and more detailed report will be released after the lockdown ends.
The report was compiled after covering the daily trade and business, gross domestic product (GDP) for 2017-18 and the economic outlook, KTA said.
According to the report, the agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture sectors suffered a loss of Rs 942.4 crore during the five months of lockdown after being hit hard by the catastrophic downpour during the preceding winter.
It said lockdown has proved to be the last nail in the coffin of an already dying production industry here. “In total, the sector incurred a loss of Rs 3161.60 crore during the lockdown period,” KTA said.
KTA said the lockdown also brought construction activities to a standstill, leaving 500,000 people jobless. “Construction activities and projects were hit by a loss of Rs 2,214.64 crore.”
It said thousands of people lost their jobs, hotels looked deserted, houseboats were locked and other tourist activities ceased. “Tourist traders were waiting for tourists in 2020, but the lockdown and the situation have dashed their hopes, and in the last five months alone the sector has lost Rs 1,292 crore, while the hotels and restaurants have also suffered a loss of Rs 760 crore,” KTA said.
The report says that the wheels of passenger vehicles have been jammed in the Valley for the last five months, with an estimated 60,000 passenger vehicles including 32,000 taxi cabs, 6,000 minibuses, and 12,000 auto-rickshaws having been lying idle. “A total of 200,000 families are dependent on transport. The financial condition of the transporters, drivers and conductors is very pathetic. The sector has suffered losses of Rs 2888 crore as a result of the lockdown in the last five months,” KTA report says.
It says the shopkeepers lost Rs 4104 crore during the lockdown. Handicrafts sector has incurred a total loss of Rs 760 crore and real estate sector has lost Rs 2280 crore, while the services sector incurred a loss of Rs 608 crore.
According to the report, the education sector has so far suffered a loss of Rs 76 crore.
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
