ISSUE DATE: May 10, 2021
UPDATED: May 1, 2021 19:48 IST
Workers at Matrix Clothing Factory in Gurugram, Haryana, in February 2021, by Chandradeep Kumar
The concern in Prakash Padikkal’s voice is quite palpable. Padikkal, 65, owns Havistha Steel, a company in Navi Mumbai that makes equipment and storage tanks for the chemicals, food and pharmaceutical sectors. Classified as an essential business, Padikkal is allowed to keep work going, exempted from the restrictions in place in Maharashtra, which were just extended from May 1 until May 15. Nonetheless, he says he faces a financial squeeze, with low demand because of various Covid-19 lockdowns across India on the one side and rising input costs on the other. He says prices of one input mild steel have shot up from near Rs 40 a kg to about Rs 85 a kg, and that he is stuck with the loss since many of his contracts use fixed prices.
Mumbai, India – Standing behind the counter of what is widely acknowledged as India’s oldest sports shop, fourth-generation owner Manohar Wagle reflects on how the COVID-19 pandemic finally forced his family’s 155-year old business to enter the 21st century.
“People are so hesitant to leave their homes and want to do everything online now, even if stores like ours are open again,” the 62-year-old proprietor told Al Jazeera. “We had to respond to that”.
Wagle now spends much of his day speaking with customers on WhatsApp, sharing pictures of his stock and initiating online transactions through GooglePay.
In India, the continuing struggle to contain the world’s second-largest coronavirus outbreak has crushed demand, upended supply chains and transformed consumer habits. To survive the changed landscape and uncertainty brought by virus protocols, many small businesses are innovating or adapting their business models to cope.