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FICCI puts damages at Rs 25,000 cr

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Jan. 29

THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has estimated that damages due to the quake in Gujarat to be about Rs 25,000 crore.

FICCI has contacted a number of its constituents and member bodies in the State to ascertain the extent of damage and losses. The losses have been of four major categories: damage to buildings and constructions, GDP losses, damages to infrastructure and damages to factory and production units.

Damages to buildings and construction have been extensive. Ground-level estimates from Ahmedabad put the losses between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 crore.

The GDP losses because of absence of workers from factories and complete stoppage of work is estimated around Rs 4,000 crore. ``We arrived at this figure on the presumption that daily losses from absence and stoppage of work at factories and facilities h ave been of the order of the Rs 500 crore a day,'' FICCI said.

Losses due to damages to infrastructure facilities have been estimated about Rs 3,000 crore. Damages to factory and production units have been put at Rs 1,500 crore. Large factories have suffered some damages but extensive losses have been reported by th e small-scale units in the affected areas. ``It is not immediately possible to quantify the losses to a very large number of dispersed small-scale units,'' it said.

Ms Tanvir Qureshi, Vice-President, Adani Exports Ltd, said that the residential plots and manufacturing centres of the company were intact and no perceptible damage was seen. Their port at Mundra was also safe, but the attendance of workers was a matter of concern.

According to Mr Arvind Patel, Managing Director, Gujarat Forgings Ltd, the workers attendance has come down to 25 per cent. Cracks have appeared in their factories and production has come down to one-third of their total capacity. Their factory sheds in Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) plots have been damaged.

Claris Lifesciences has reported crack at two of its plants. Also cracks have appeared in the factory premises of Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.

Besides the buildings that have been damaged, there is panic among the people even to return to their homes as there are no reliable information about their houses, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said. The industrial units, in these circumsta nces, is expected to operate only at 50 per cent of its current capacity in the first seven days.

Even in the next seven days, the industry is expected to operate only at 70 per cent of its capacity. The estimated total loss due to slowdown in production will be between Rs 750 crore and Rs 1,000 crore over the next 15 days.

In the area outside Kutch region, the damage to property has been extensive in many buildings and the loss is estimated around Rs 1,500 crore, CII said.

Based on the feedback from representatives, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said that the losses from damage to vital industrial infrastructure may cost the Central and State exchequers over Rs 1,000 crore a day.