Covid-19 outbreak: India Inc plays safe, despite lockdown norms being eased

Demand slump, labour shortage put a damper on ramp-up

Even though the Union government has permitted further relaxation in the lockdown rules from Monday, India Inc is on a wait-and-watch mode to restart manufacturing and service operations or ramp up production. 

From automobile majors and soft drink bottlers to cement companies, a large section of the industry sitting on a huge inventory is hesitant to open up when there’s no sign of demand growing. 

Shortage of labour and a broken supply chain are among the other hurdles for many key sectors. But there are others, such as cab aggregators and garment export hubs like Tiruppur, who are ready to