Hit hard by the coronavirus induced lockdown, nearly 62% of the 2.59 lakh registered industrial units in Punjab resumed operations with over 12.01 lakh workers till Monday.
Till May 17, only 17,301 industrial units were functional but the positive response of industry leaders led to the opening of over 1.60 lakh industrial units over eight subsequent days.
Around 2.8 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state have incurred a loss of around Rs 4,169 crore due to the lockdown imposed on March 23. As the government has no other alternative but to focus on livelihoods and the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, more industries are expected to resume operations in days to come.
Out of over 1.60 lakh units operational on Monday, around 1.48 lakh are MSMEs. Among these 1.60 lakh industrial units, 1.09 lakh (65%) are in urban areas and 51,094 (55%) are in rural areas. Punjab has a total registered industrial workforce of almost 20.30 lakh and 12.01 lakh (59%) is back at work in operational units. They include around 4.12 lakh workers (60%) in rural areas and 7.89 lakh (58%) in urban areas.
Over 17.18 lakh migrant workers have registered with Punjab government to travel back to their native states and around four lakh passengers have already left from different railway stations in Shramik special trains or buses.
Sibin C, director, industries and commerce department, said as the industry is gradually coming back on track, many migrant labourers who wanted to go back to their states have changed their minds.
"Our operational industrial units are functioning with around 40 per cent production because of the shortage of raw material, complete chain break-up and shortage of labour," said the director, industries department.
Data complied by the state industries department reveals that around 80, 051 functional units are continuing their operations with less than 10 workers, 58,372 industries are doing so with the 10 to 25 workers and 21,786 units over 25 workers.
During lockdown 4, the Punjab government has allowed all categories of industries to function both in urban and rural areas without permisision. Out of the total units functional across Punjab on Monday, 33 per cent (53,284) are in the industrial hub of Ludhiana alone.