While restaurateurs and gym owners are enthusiastic about the relaxations introduced under unlock 3, retailers expect little respite. Unlock 3 guidelines include lifting restrictions on night movement, hours of operations for restaurants and retail outlets, and gymnasia.

According to Anurag Katriar, president, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), lifting of night curfew will boost the fortunes of the restaurant sector as it will bring late-evening diners back to the outlets. 

Traditionally, sit-down restaurant customers contribute over 35 per cent to the total sales, and operators were in dire straits since lockdown rules first prohibited dine-ins and then barred late dine-ins. But restaurateurs have reasons for concern. Despite repeated attempts, serving of alcohol has not yet been allowed. This will lead to further loss of business, the NRAI has said.

Owners of fitness centres and gymnasia are upbeat, too. Neha Motwani, co-founder and CEO at fitness platform Fitternity, said they were gearing up to bring momentum back by guiding partners.

After removal of these restrictions, retailers and mall operators are expecting a marginal improvement in footfall. According to Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers Association of India, the latest guidelines are in line with the set of standard operating procedures that its members had prepared.