Anand Mahindra, Sajjan Jindal echo need for economic revival post lockdown

MUMBAI: Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra on Tuesday vouched for a comprehensive lifting of the nationwide lockdown, cautioning that doing otherwise could make industrial recovery “painfully slow”.

He pointed out in a post on Twitter that economic activity could not take off if different parts of the country opened sequentially.



“For example, humble roadside dhabas may seem ‘non-essential’ but truckers can’t journey without them,” he said.

JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal said that while the lockdown has had a positive effect in containing the virus, it was imperative to move focus on the economic well-being of the country. “The virus while controlled will be a threat till we find a vaccine. However, we need to find ways to work within a ‘new normal’ to bring this economy back to capacity in the shortest period of time,” Jindal said in a press statement, adding, “A depression in the economy is also a threat to this nation.


Containment post lockdown can be exception, based on widespread tracking and testing and only the hotspots and vulnerable segments of the population may be isolated, Mahindra said. “Research suggests a 49-day lockdown is optimal. If true, then post that duration, I believe the lifting of the lockout should be comprehensive.”


A research paper authored by Rajesh Singh and Ronojoy Adhikari, from University of Cambridge and Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, respectively, suggested that the number of cases in India could be theoretically reduced to less than 10 following a contiguous 49-day lockdown. However, the research assumed that all cases were symptomatic and predicted that the number of cases would not cross 600, which has not been the case.