Some export units to resume work in Gujarat amid lockdown 2.0

Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health), said the situation was fast coming under control and a decision has been taken to test all pregnant women in Covid-19 hotspots areas even if they don’t any Covid symptoms.

From Saturday, export units in located in districts of Gujarat not affected by Covid-19, will resume operation, an official from the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office said.

Almost 90% of the 800 large and 4.53 lakh small and medium factories in Gujarat have pending orders and close to 70% of them are not in containment zones, government officials said. (ANI file photo)

On the day when 191 new cases of Covid-19 were reported from Gujarat, taking the total number of cases in the state to 2,815, the government decided to lift the curfew from Ahmedbad, Surat and Vadodra, the three most affected districts. “Now the curfew has been lifted from all the three districts of state. But there will still be a tight implementation of the lockdown until May 3,” said Gujarat police director general of police Shivanad Jha.

Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health), said the situation was fast coming under control and a decision has been taken to test all pregnant women in Covid-19 hotspots areas even if they don’t any Covid symptoms.

Ashwani Kumar, secretary to chief minister Vijay Rupani, said: “In the first phase, factories that have pending export orders will be allowed to start operations provided they are not in Covid containment zones.”

Almost 90% of the 800 large and 4.53 lakh small and medium factories in Gujarat have pending orders and close to 70% of them are not in containment zones, government officials said.

Purvin Mariyankari, director, Ahmedabad Export Import Development Association (AEIDA), welcomed the order , but said that business would sill be affected as there is not much demand internationally.

“Gujarat accounts for 25% of India’s total exports in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textile, ceramics, chemicals, gems and jewellery, even auto components,” Mariyankari said. About 80% of the salt and 70% of jewellery exported from India is from Gujarat.

He said total exports from the Gujarat in 2018-19 stood at US$ 67.4 billion. “The export industry has already witnessed US $ 846 million fall in exports in February 2020 as compared to the same month in 2019 because of the slowdown.”

Shailesh Patwari, former president of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said it would be difficult to operate the industries in absence of workers. “Mostly, migrant workers from states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh works in the export units and about 70% of them have already gone back.”