Opposition's bandh costs people over $2 billion loss: CII Published

Opposition's bandh costs people over $2 billion loss: CII

Published: Thursday, Sep 20, 2012, 16:35 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: IANS 

 

1. The nation-wide strike against the government decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and hike diesel prices is estimated to have caused losses to the tune of Rs12,500 crore ($2.25 billion) to the Indian economy, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Thursday.
2. "Today’s bandh (strike) has been disruptive for business and trade in many parts of the country. While an exact loss for the entire economy is not known, it can be estimated that almost Rs12,500 crore has been the country's loss in terms of disruptions in production and trade,” the CII said.
3. Stating that the government should not buckle under political pressure to roll back the recent reform measures, the industry association said, "Good economics seldom makes for good politics and therefore, it is important to communicate to the masses the merit and necessity of the recently announced reform measures.”
4. Adi Godrej, president, CII, expressed hope that parties across the political spectrum would work to ensure that the much needed economic reforms were carried out in the country. “It is not often that bold measures are announced to take economic reforms to the next level and whenever such announcements have been made, there have been pain felt by many,” Godrej said in a statement.
5. "But the merits of the reforms that were first initiated in the early nineties are there for everyone to see. Irrespective of whichever political party has been in the government since then, the reforms have not been reversed,” he added.