The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted India's economy. India's GDP declined by 24% in the second quarter of 2020-2021, the largest contraction ever. Unemployment rose sharply as various sectors like tourism, hospitality, and aviation were hit hard by lockdowns and reduced consumer demand. However, sectors like pharmaceuticals and telecom experienced continued or increased activity. The government announced various economic relief measures totaling over $24 billion to help tackle the economic effects of the pandemic.

2. Introduction
The economic impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic in India has been largely
disruptive. India's growth in the fourth
quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went
down to 3.1% according to the Ministry
of Statistics. The Chief Economic
Adviser to the Government of India
said that this drop is mainly due to the
coronavirus pandemic effect on the
Indian economy.

3. The Government of India announced a
variety of measures to tackle the
situation, from food security and extra
funds for healthcare and for the states,
to sector related incentives and tax
deadline extensions. On 26 March a
number of economic relief measures
for the poor were announced totaling
over ₹170,000 crore (US$24 billion).
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4. Impacts
• Largest GDP contraction ever in Q2 (April–June) FY2020–2021 at −24%
• Sharp rise in unemployment
• Stress on supply chains
• Decrease in government income
• Collapse of the tourism industry
• Collapse of the hospitality industry
• Reduced consumer activity
• Trade tensions with China
• Plunge in fuel consumption. Rise in LPG sales.

5. Impacts on Different Sectors of Economy
The impact of coronavirus pandemic on India has been largely disruptive in
terms of economic activity as well as a loss of human lives. Almost all the
sectors have been adversely affected as domestic demand and exports sharply
plummeted with some notable exceptions where high growth was observed. An
attempt is made to analyze the impact and possible solutions for some key
sectors.

6. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
Since agriculture is the backbone of
the country and a part of the
government announced essential
category, the impact is likely to be low
on both primary agricultural
production and usage of agro-inputs.

7. AVIATION & TOURISM
The contribution of the Aviation Sector and Tourism to our GDP stands at
about 2.4% and 9.2% respectively. The Tourism sector served approximately 43
million people in FY 18-19. Aviation and Tourism were the first industries that
were hit significantly by the pandemic. The common consensus seems to be
that COVID will hit these industries harder than 9/11 and the Financial Crisis
of 2008.

8. TELECOM
There has been a significant amount of
changes in the telecom sector of India even
before the COVID 19 due to brief price wars
between the service providers. Most essential
services and sectors have continued to run
during the pandemic thanks to the
implementation of the ‘work from home’ due
to restrictions.

9. PHARMACEUTICALS
The pharmaceutical industry has been on
the rise since the start of the Covid-19
pandemic, especially in India, the largest
producer of generic drugs globally. With a
market size of $55 billion during the
beginning of 2020, it has been surging in
India, exporting Hydroxychloroquine to
the world.

10. OIL AND GAS
The Indian Oil & Gas industry is quite significant in the global context – it is the
third-largest energy consumer only behind USA and Chine and contributes to
5.2% of the global oil demand. The complete lockdown across the country slowed
down the demand of transport fuels (accounting for 2/3rd demand in oil & gas
sector) as auto & industrial manufacturing declined and goods & passenger
movement (both bulk & personal) fell.

11. CONCLUSION
Besides informal sectors, the
lower strata of society and
daily wage workers faced the
greatest impact due to social
distancing as well as reduced
household income.

12. REFERENCES
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/midweekread/impact-of-
covid-19-on-indian-economy-26770/
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_the_COVID-
19_pandemic_in_India
• https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/columnists/covid-19-impact-on-
indian-economy.html