Page 84 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

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Roundup
Roundup
Roundup
Roundup
Roundup

One in three small busi- sons for winding up businesses may not connectivity for smooth passenger
be completely due to the pandemic. movement in the next four years. In a
nesses close to winding The respondents were already facing meeting chaired by Prime Minister
up, says survey issues in their businesses, whether Narendra Modi, the national trans-
As unlock 1 kicks in, more than a third from demonetisation or GST, over the porter said 15 inter-modal stations
of self-employed and small and me- last three years, along with a slowdown would be developed in collaboration
dium businesses do not see any grounds in the economy. Their debts would with the road transport ministry and
for recovery and are on the verge of have piled up and the final nail in the 10 port connectivity projects would be
winding up, according to a survey by coffin has been the Covid-19 pan- completed by 2024, sources said.
All India Manufacturers’ Association demic”, KE Raghunathan, former Presi-
(AIMO) in partnership with nine other dent, AIMO said. In its presentation, the railways has
industry bodies. said there will be focus on completing
“This kind of mass destruction of busi- projects worth Rs 13.35 lakh crore by
The AIMO survey comprises 46,525 ness has not been witnessed since In- 2025, including Udhampur-Baramula
responses from MSMEs, self-em- dependence,” he said. rail link in Jammu and Kashmir,
ployed, corporate CEOs and employ- Rishikesh Karnprayag rail line in
ees. It was conducted online between India has seen one of the harshest Uttarakhand and Jiribam-Imphal line
May 24 and May 30. lockdowns in the world, with gradual in the North East. The other projects
relaxations for resumption of economic include building three more dedicated
While 35 per cent of Micro, Small and activities being allowed after the third freight corridors and operationalisation
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and 37 phase that ended May 17. Growing of Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train
per cent of the self-employed respon- Covid cases in states including project and Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-
dents said their enterprises were be- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Howrah semi-high speed corridors.
yond recovery, 32 per cent of MSMEs Delhi have posed challenges for full
said recovery would take six months. resumption of economic activity. Sources said the PM asked the railways
Just 12 per cent expected a recovery According to GDP data released by the to focus on increasing the speed of
in less than three months. freight trains and see how there can
National Statistical Office, the
be a big push for train coach manufac-
country’s growth rate slumped to an
The sentiment for business is more turers to meet the growing demand.
11-year low of 4.2 per cent in 2019-20.
optimistic in the response from corpo-
The RBI too recently said the growth
rate CEOs who expect a recovery in While top railway officials were tight-
may be in the negative territory in
three months, the survey showed. lipped about the issues that came up
2020-21.
during the long interaction with the
“Scaling down of operations, uncer- Rlys to develop 25 inter- PM, sources said the focus is on rail-
tainty about future orders are among way management and there is a pos-
the major factors concerning smaller modal stations sibility of bringing experts into the sys-
and medium enterprises, but the rea- The railways will focus on multi-modal tem.

84 PR COMMUNICATION AGE January - June 2020