Forty seven per cent  of Indian startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have less than 1 month of cash left amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, a survey said. The startups and small businesses have also reached out to the government via various platforms to help them tackle the crisis, the survey by LocalCircles said.

Among the various demands submitted to the government include reimbursement of 50 per cent of startup employee salaries for one month or a one-time Rs 20 lakh grant for government registered startups, expediting PSU, government and large corporate payments to startups, processing tax deducted at source (TDS) refunds for FY 20 within 15 days and enabling corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to be deployed into startups.

The survey performed in the last week of March received over 13,970 responses from startups and SMEs located in over 90 districts across the country. "6% said they are covered for over 6 months, 23% said they have runway for 3-6 months and 24% said they only have cash for 1-3 months. 20% startups said their cash would only last them less than a month. 27% startups and SMEs said they are already out of funds," the survey also said.

The survey further said that 61 per cent of their respondents are considering scaling down amid the ongoing crisis, while 20 per cent are looking at either selling their business or at a complete shut down. Only 13 per cent of the respondents said that they are looking at growth, it added. India is currently under a nationwide lockdown since March 25. The lockdown will be lifted on May 3.