Taking a nap, playing ludo: Gujarat pharma hub hit by near-zero exports

Companies finding it tough to source raw materials amid the lockdown

At a petrol pump on the deserted Bavla-Changodar highway near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, several trucks and buses are neatly parked in a row. Some of the drivers are taking a nap, while some others play Ludo on their mobile phones, even as they maintain physical distance from each other.
 

The highway cuts across one of the busiest pharmaceutical hubs in the country. But that was before the nationwide lockdown to battle the coronavirus pandemic came into force.

Today, the hub, which consists of  big, mid-sized and small pharma companies, wears a desolate look.

With the government asking the