FIGHTING THE FEAR FACTOR

India Inc. is staring at severe operational and financial troubles. This is how it is planning to weather the storm

- NEVIN JOHN

The lockdown of factories and halting of construction work due to spread of coronavirus has terrified A.M. Naik, Chairman, Larsen and Toubro (L&T). He has never faced such a crisis in his 55-year-long career. This time, the company has to take care of the 1.6 lakh contract workers at sites across India and Middle East even though it knows its earnings during the period will be negligible.

It knows project executions and payments will be delayed. Moreover, the companies will stop planning new capacities, and that will affect the construction giant's cash flows too. The future is under a cloud, and a pretty thick one at that.

The auto industry, which was struggling even before due to economic slowdown, is facing more trouble. R.C. Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, is right now worried about how fast India can contain the virus outbreak. “The plants have closed operations. We will be able to assess losses and count on demand only after restarting operations,” he says. Again, Maruti is retaining with full pay its entire workforce. Its component suppliers and dealers are doing the same. Bhargava’s main concern when Maruti’s plants open is dent in confidence of customers.