Deferment of the selective opening of industry is disappointing: President, FIEO

Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO expressed his disappointment with the deferment of the decision to extend the selective opening of the manufacturing sector, particularly regarding exports. Non-adherence to the delivery schedule for exports will result in cancellation, penalties and market loss, besides the business loss to enterprises. The exporters, particularly MSME exporters, have no liquidity to pay wages for the month of April as they are unable to conduct any business activity during the lockdown. He also said that the shifting of the goalpost will not help in avoiding the stark realities which we have to face whenever we open. The start of selective manufacturing will also be a long drawn battle due to the unavailability of labour, raw material, transport etc. which will resume normalcy only after a few months of selective opening. Even countries such as Spain, one of the worst affected nations, have started opening the economy to bring it on track.