Under unique initiative of the EEPC India, 40 economists and
academics of renowned Indian and international institutions have
pieced together their prescriptive assessment of the economic, social
and political impact of Covid-19, debating how India may emerge as an
alternate manufacturing hub to China, even as globalisation takes a
hit in the post-pandemic world.

The compendium of well-researched articles, ranging from challenges of
lockdown, impact on trade, fall-out on exports and MSMEs and the
emerging challenges for economic diplomacy has been brought out by the
Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC India) in
collaboration with the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and
Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).

'' In particular, the publication, titled “COVID-19: Challenges for
the Indian Economy - Trade and Foreign Policy Effects' examines the
magnitude and the impact of the crisis on Indian economy – is it
shallow or deep, and the scope to rebound, particularly from the
point of view of exports. Several economists and scholars also give
their deep dive prescription for managing the immediate challenges of
business and income loss for the people while battling it out with the
global pandemic," wrote Mr Suranjan Gupta, Executive Director of the
EEPC India and Dr Prabir De, Professor at the Research and Information
System for Developing Countries (RIS) in their joint contribution.

The distinguished economists and academics, giving a diversified
picture of the Covid-19 impact were drawn from top institutions and
universities. These included Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Indian
Council of Research on International Economic Research (ICRIER), School
of Environmental and Forestry Sciences, University of Washington,
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Indian Institute of Management and
Jadavpur University, among others.

''Although India has managed well till date in containing the spread
of the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted normal
economic activity and life in our country. India’s trade has been
severely impacted. People have a sudden loss of their income, causing
a major drop in demand. To rescue the economy, India has announced
impressive fiscal and monetary stimulus packages. This pandemic has
strong foreign and trade policy effects,'' said Dr Mohan Kumar,
Chairman , RIS.

Sharing a practitioner's ground report, EEPC Chairman Mr Ravi Sehgal
said, ''Pandemic comes at a worst of time when global economic order
is already exposed to rising trade protectionism, ongoing tariff
wars, unilateral economic sanctions, standstill at WTO talks, waning
economic and financial institutions and lack of mutual trust, wisdom
and initiation among global leadership''.

He said, the council would brainstorm different ideas and assessment
of some of the top economists and scholars as it endeavours to deal
with the worst global crisis in the living memory of people according to a press release issued by the EEPC.

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