The unfortunate outbreak of Covid-19 has had some negative impact on the Indian economy. As far as exports are concerned, the moment certainly looks bleak. One of the things that covid successfully accomplished is impeding international trade. The supply chain on a global level has been disrupted and this has impacted almost every industry, thereby having a negative impact on the economy.
Indian exports have plummeted and reached its all time low owing to the pandemic. The nationwide lockdown for almost two months made things worse. On a side note, imports have taken a hit too. This was the scenario in May, 2020. Now fast forwarding to January 2021, certain things have visibly changed due to the advancement in vaccine development.
The outbreak of a different virus strain has most of Europe go in lockdown again, now with even stringent rules. This has negatively impacted the Indian Export industry, needless to mention the United Kingdom and some of the European countries were star buyers. As of today, the export of grapes have taken a huge hit.
The season for grape export is about to start and the grape growers have a disturbed feeling of uncertainty lingering on their heads. Almost 60% of the grapes produce are exported, covid has turned tables for them but not so positively. As we all know, export items are quite pricey compared to the products that are meant for domestic use. To compensate their loss, farmers are demanding higher prices on the domestic products, which is not a good sign.
The uncertainty is yet another negative parameter in this whole scenario. The grape season has almost set in, but nobody is sure how it is going to pan out and that is causing some strain in the relationships. The only hope for exporters right now is that the covid vaccine is almost there for the public use.
If one industry is flourishing despite all odds right now is the pharmaceutical industry. Drug export has definitely improved when the world was and still battling with the novel corona virus. The formulations and drugs export increased by 18% and 9% respectively. The major reason that other countries getting the active ingredients for drugs from India is abandoning China.
The USA has outright gone on a trade war with China. Indian exporters should seize this opportunity and capitalise while things are the way they are. Besides, there had been quality issues with the chinese products.So, Pharmaceutical industry is the only hope for Indian Exports to look up.
So, to answer the original question, has indian export plunged due to the pandemic? The answer is yes and no. Although other industries are taking a hit, Indian Pharmaceuticals are the star performers. India is looking forward to keep their export number despite all odds and is highly reliant on the pharma industry to achieve the same. Availability of vaccine will light up the situation.
