India's retail trade lost business worth Rs 9 lakh cr in last 60 days: CAIT

The country's retail trade lost business worth Rs 9 lakh crore in the last 60 days, mainly due to the nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus pandemic, trader's body CAIT said on Sunday.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said domestic trade is facing its worst period as shops and commercial markets across the country since last Monday could register only about 5 per cent of business, and only 8 per cent of workforce could resume their duties in shops after migration of about 80 per cent employees to their native places.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said during the span of 60 days of national lockdown, the domestic trade has lost a business to the tune of about Rs 9 lakh crore, causing a revenue loss of about Rs 1.5 lakh crore to both the central and state governments on account of GST.

The traders are facing acute financial crunch, and in absence of any policy support from the government, they are worried about future of their business, he said.