Indian business activity index dips, 2nd wave may be for 100 days: SBI

01 Apr '21

2 min read

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India’s business activity index has declined in recent weeks, with the latest value being 101.7, according to a report by the State Bank of India (SBI), which recently said over 2.5 million coronavirus cases are likely to be reported in the second wave that may last up to 100 days. Lockdowns have not resulted in controlling the spread of the infection, it said.

The report, titled 'Second wave of infections: The beginning of the end?', has been authored by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, SBI’s group chief economic adviser.

"Increasing the speed of vaccination is the only way to win the battle against Covid-19 pandemic. Injection to infection ratio shows Israel, UK and Chile are doing better than India. However, the pace of vaccination in India is much higher. So far India has given 50.8 million shots in a span of 67 days, or 790,000 shots per day," it said.

"India is witnessing second wave of infection beginning February 2021, with daily new cases rising again. Pan-India total cases in the second wave expected in the order of 25 lakhs (based on trends in data till 23-Mar). Considering the number of days from the current level of daily new cases to the peak level during the first wave, India might reach the peak in the second half of April," the report said.

"Though Global Covid-19 experience shows second wave much higher in intensity than the first wave, presence of vaccine makes the difference currently. Thus India will be able to manage the situation better," it added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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