Economic Activity In India Close To Pre-Lockdown Level, Big Spike In People Working From Home

Indian economy had hit a standstill due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases in March. Since unlocking the country starting from the beginning of June, there has been a gradual rise in terms of business activity across the country, Economic Times has reported.

Private tracker Nomura India Business Resumption Index has noted a 2.6 index rise at 81.6 in the week that ended on 13 September in comparison to 79 in the seven days preceding that. The report takes into consideration Google mobility indices, labour force participation rate along with demand for power and mobility of driving from Apple.

In the week prior to lockdown that ended on 22 March, an index score of 82.9 was recorded. This signals that currently the level of economic activity is quite close to the pre-COVID era, thus fueling hopes of a recovery in the coming times.

There is also a startling observation of a significant amount of service work functioning from home for now. “Workplace mobility, however, was unchanged at around 30 percentage points below normal, possibly reflecting a more durable shift towards working from home,” the report mentioned.

Though the weekly study raised concerns over the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, it is probably a price given by the nation as a whole to resume financial, business, industrial and other enterprises for the protection of our livelihoods.