Beyond delayed payments, Indian exports have also been hit by the pandemic, and companies have faced over 50 per cent cancellations in orders, said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), nearly half of whose members are small businesses. Small businesses account for nearly one-quarter of India’s $2.9 trillion economy and employ more than 500 million workers, according to government estimates.
India’s unemployment rate rose to 10.4 per cent this week from 7.2 per cent in early February, according to estimates by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a Mumbai-based private think-tank. Even workers who were able to access some government relief this week faced delays at banks. On Tuesday, outside a Punjab National Bank branch in Agra, more than 100 people, mainly women, were queuing for a 500 rupee ($6.60) subsidy granted by the government during the lockdown.
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