NEW DELHI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- India's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have begun to feel the pinch of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the president of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) on Wednesday.
The hardship comes even as there were many requests from buyers to "hold back shipments from India till further instructions", said FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf in a statement.
"We feel that a significant number of such requests may eventually lead to cancellation of orders. If the situation improves rapidly in the second quarter of the next fiscal, Indian exporters may gain in some products so as to offset the losses," he said.
"However at this point, the survival of many MSME exporting units looks challenging," he added.
He further said the near lockdown and quarantine in many advanced economies had given a jolt to the demand and added to the rising uncertainties with looming recessions in a large number of economies with consequent fallouts.
According to FIEO president, the MSMEs were likely to be worst affected in the first quarter of this financial year, particularly in employment-intensive sectors like carpets, handicrafts, apparel, footwear, gems and jewelry, marine and perishable products with their major market in Europe and the United States.
Saraf also said he was confident that the government of India would do its best to support the industry and export sectors in such challenging times.
