Lockdown will hit Maharashtra hard in economic term: Minister

Maharashtra is going to be the worst-hit among states in economic term due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown given its status as an industrial power and a manufacturing hub in the country, water resources minister Jayant Patil said on Monday.

Most of the manufacturing units have completely stopped their activities due to the lockdown, he said. Speaking a Marathi news channel, Patil said, Maharashtra, being the most industrialised state, is going to be the worst hit in this crisis. There are thousands of manufacturing units across the state, including large, medium and small ones. They employ millions of skilled and non- skilled workers."

The 21-day lockdown, implemented to facilitate social distancing and stem the spread of the coronavirus, is going to create an economic crisis in the state, said Patil, a former finance minister.

"Coronavirus is an international crisis; thus we are part of it as well. Maharashtra is a highly industrialised state hence the closure of several industrial units is going to create a huge economic crisis for the state as well, Patil said.

Asked how the state would come out of the crisis, Patil said, It will take months for industrial units to resume production and achieve maximum capacity as small, medium and large industrial units are inter-dependent."

We need to rethink the current socio-economic framework as well in which we are living and how we should proceed further, said the minister.

According to the Economic Survey 2019-20, Maharashtra has 14.90 lakh registered micro, small and medium scale industries generating employment for 78.92 lakh people.