Airlines make hay as Rajasthan crisis worsens

The impact of the prevailing political unrest in various parts of Rajasthan is being felt by industry across the state.

A cross-section of industry and government opinion in the state suggests that economic activity has been adversely affected due to the ripple effect of the ongoing trouble.

Industry is losing money due to the delays, cancellations, manpower shortage and supply disruptions, while the state suffers from arson and lost tax revenue. Factors hitting industry worst are disruptions of road and rail transport systems.

Several highways remain blocked (Army was deployed on these roads). Rail services, including 41 long-distance trains, and intra- and inter-Rajasthan bus connections, remained disrupted. Even the all-important National Highway 8, connecting the state with Delhi, wore a deserted look.

However, flights are the only alternatives to and from Rajasthan and airfares have become extremely expensive.

A Rajasthan state government official said: "The only beneficiaries are the airlines, who have hiked their fares. Even the state government has had to book tickets for Rs 9,000 each (from Delhi to Jaipur), which were earlier available for Rs 950-1200 per ticket."

"Almost 90 per cent of the bookings for Jaipur are pending. Since passengers cannot get tickets for direct flights to the city they are flying via Mumbai. Therefore, taking a flight to Jaipur means spending about Rs 15,000, against Rs 2,500 earlier," said Raj Kachroo of Swift Travels.

Though Alwar, Neemrana and Bhiwadi "" the primary industrial regions in the state "" are unaffected, violence in the relatively non-industrialised areas of Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Bhayana, Kotputli, Ajmer, Bharatpur and Dholpur have seen widespread violence.

Today, the trouble seems to affect even Gurgaon, in neighbouring Haryana, although no major disruption, barring some employees staying away from work, was reported.

Even the national capital is being affected indirectly: Mother Dairy buys much of its milk from the dairies in the affected areas.

"Neither are raw materials reaching factories, nor are we able to send finished products. So far, industry has incurred over Rs 1,000 crore in losses. Other indirect losses, in terms of lost productivity and man hours, are difficult to measure. Petrol and diesel pumps may also be closed in a few days as they may not get supplies," said RS Gamini, President, Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry.