'BANDH' MAKES HYDERABAD HELL!

By M H Ahssan

Come Friday, Hyderabad will face another shutdown -- the 13th this year and perhaps, more than any other city in the country. This figure doesn’t include the innumerable strikes like the ongoing RTC and small and medium-scale industries’ stir, which gives a measure of the crisis gripping the State capital.

Claims of loss caused to the economy vary from one industry body to another. The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FAPCCI) put the loss since Sept 13 when the Telangana Sakala Janula Samme began at around Rs 3,000 crore.

“Each day of the strike has cost the industries Rs 120 crore to Rs 150 crore. Due to the industrial shutdown over the last two days, the cumulative loss suffered is in the range of Rs 1500 crore to Rs 1800 crore,” says VS Raju, president, FAPCCI.

Citing difficulties caused by revised tax norms, interest rates and volatile markets, he points out that political turmoil has only aggravated the decline of the industrial sector. “The current situation has led to the disruption of the supply chain and the industries have been unable to meet orders. This has long-term implications as it weakens customer confidence, causing diversion of orders to other states. The investor sentiment has been negatively affected and the image of Andhra Pradesh in general and Hyderabad in particular as a viable investment destination has been ruined,” he explains. According to him, the situation is likely to cause a further 10-15 per cent loss to the industries.

L Suresh, President, ITsAP, the IT industry association, says, “though� there’s not much of violence, operations are certainly affected. More importantly, if the ambiguity continues for long, the profitability factor in Hyderabad will be questioned. The city will lose its charm as an attractive investment destination.”

The job market has also been shaken as companies have been holding up expansion plans. “The estimated loss of job opportunities over the last one-and-a-half years� is huge. In the manufacturing sector it could be around 20,000 jobs and nearly 40,000 in the service sector. The frequency of bandhs is� unprecedented in a single state, except for West Bengal in the past,” exclaims Devendra Surana, senior vice-president, FAPCCI and managing director of the Bhagyanagar India Limited. “I supply hardware to the automobile industry. Due to frequent bandhs, I have had to ship my orders by air-freight to meet deadlines and suffered heavy losses. It is my appeal to the government to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” he says.