A Full-blown Crisis

The devastating impact of coronavirus on the economy is becoming increasingly clear

Shivani Sharma

Print Edition: 17 May, 2020

Graphics by Tanmoy Chakraborty

Here is what high-frequency data shows:

Borrowings by states rise sharply as economy shuts down

New Investments Slip in FY20

FY20 ended with new investments of Rs 11.9 lakh crore; this is much lower than the Rs 13.1 lakh crore in FY19
September and December quarters saw an improvement but new investments shrunk again in the March quarter, probably due to the shutdown
Of the 431 new projects announced during the March quarter, 44 were in the power sector

Sharp Slowdown in Project Completions Too

Projects worth Rs 776,400 crore were completed in quarter ended March 31, 2020; Rs 4 lakh crore worth of completions were scheduled for the quarter
The completions during FY20, at Rs 4.1 lakh crore, were 37 per cent lower than the Rs 6.5 lakh crore in FY19

Food Subsidy Falls; Bad News for FCI

The Centre's food subsidy bill falls 10 per cent in FY20
This means - just as in previous few years - the Centre is transferring a major part of this burden to FCI
FCI debt has been ballooning; it rose to Rs 2.65 lakh crore in March 2019, up from Rs 91,409 crore in March 2014

Direct Benefit Transfers Fall 23% in FY20

The Centre's direct benefit transfers (cash and kind) fell to Rs 2.53 lakh crore in FY20 from Rs 3.3 lakh crore in FY19
This is partly due to reduction in transfers under key schemes such as MGNREGA and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)

Cargo Traffic at India's Major Ports Up 1.4% During Apr 2019-Feb 2020

Cargo traffic at India's major ports grew 1.4 per cent to 643 million tonnes during April 2019-February 2020
Traffic of petroleum, oil & lubricants rose 2.7 per cent to 216.9 million tonnes
Iron ore rose 36 per cent to 50 million tonnes and container increased 2.1 per cent to 134.8 million tonnes
Coal plunged 10.8 per cent, fertiliser raw material (dry) 0.3 per cent and other goods 5.6 per cent