The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has collaborated with industry bodies to study the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small and medium enterprises in the State.
It is estimated that in the first phase of the lockdown, the revenue shortfall was over 44% in the State’s MSME sector. The extension of the lockdown could increase the revenue loss to 60%. Apart from resulting in severe shortage of working capital, the COVID-19 crisis had caused delays in payment, labour shortage and disruptions in the supply chain.
The State has more than 6.89 lakh registered enterprises, accounting for 15% of the total MSMEs in the country.
Others involved in the study include ConsoTree, a research body in industry development, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny industries Association (TANSTIA) and district level bodies such as CODITSSIA and MADITSSIA from Coimbatore and Madurai respectively.
The Institute’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences’ faculty in Economics Subash Sasidharan and Santhosh Kumar Sahu are leading the study.
Based on the results of the study that will be available in three to four weeks, the researchers will come up with adaptation and coping strategies for the affected MSMEs.
The Institute’s researchers said since the MSME's contribution to output and export is significant, it is necessary to revive them quickly.