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Bandh: IMC pegs production loss at Rs 20bn

The Indian Merchants Chamber on Thursday estimated that the one day state-wide bandh would cause a production loss of up to Rs 20 billion in Maharashtra and Rs 4 billion in Bombay alone.

IMC president, Sharayu Daftary, condemning the organisers of the bandh, which crippled all economic activity, said it had come close on the heels of seven bank holidays, causing a total production loss of more than Rs 100 billion.

Added to this, the huge loss of wages suffered by workers, loss of earnings by small and big traders, loss of income suffered by thousands of taxi and auto drivers, loss of tax revenues to the exchequer and the damage caused to the economy as a whole "is mind-boggling," she said in a statement in Bombay.

Faced with increasing competition from cheaper and better imported products, many industries in the state have already taken firm steps to shift their production facilities elsewhere, she said, adding, "I call upon the organised labour in the state to read the writing on the wall and reshape their strategies wisely."

If India wants to become a superpower and acquire a position of honour in the world, it should change its work ethics, give up bandhs and learn to live with fewer bank holidays, she concluded.

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