Economic activity in many of the districts that did not go into an intensified lockdown has picked up significantly, and the easing of curbs in the regions that did face such a shutdown — Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu — from Monday is likely to add momentum to what the Tamil Nadu government hopes will be the beginning of an economic revival.
Senior government officials said economic activity had reached 60-65% in several districts, and close to 70% of pre-lockdown levels in a few regions that did not face an intensified lockdown. “The momentum of economic activity has picked up. Electricity and fuel consumption has gone up. The bulk diesel consumption for freight hasn’t really stopped. There have been no real complaints about the disruption of cargo movement by road, except during the initial phase of the lockdown,” a senior official said.
Another official said many industries had indicated that they had seen green shoots, especially in the automobile and textiles sectors. The IT/ITeS sectors too have been performing well, with government officials saying, citing feedback, that productivity has gone up to 90-95%, with employees working from home. According to officials, in districts like Tiruppur and Coimbatore and the western belt, textile manufacturing facilities are functioning at almost full production capacity, and have sought further relaxations to allow them to function on Sundays as well.
As far as Chennai and its surrounding districts are concerned, the extent of the economic revival would be known only after a month, an official said. While industries continued to function with limited capacity in these regions, the availability of labour was a major issue, the official said. “However, some industries told us that they were able to find labour, albeit at a slightly higher cost. Other issues like supply chains need to be addressed, and we are looking at those,” the official added. “For example, the automobile industry has told us that even if they produce [vehicles], showrooms and dealers can’t reopen. So, the entire [supply] chain has to slowly come back,” the official pointed out.
When asked if there would still be a demand for products, considering that a number of industries have slashed jobs and instituted pay cuts, officials said this was one of the primary reasons why the State government took a conscious decision not to defer the salaries of government staff. “This was a very conscious decision. Two reasons — one, we are telling the private sector not to cut salaries, and we cannot do something contrary to that; two, we believe that when expenditure needs to pick up, people need to have purchasing power. If we are able to put that money into the system, people are going to be able to spend,” an official said.