Uncertain if any business will be back to normal by Q2 of this fiscal: Harsh Pati Singhania

For any business, return to normalcy by the second quarter of this fiscal seems uncertain as a lot will depend on how quickly the consumers recover from the overall impact of the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown, according to JKOrganisation Director Harsh Pati Singhania.

While the recovery rate would vary from industry to industry, he said the service sector would take longer time to bounce back from the COVID-19 impact.

"It is quite clear that if you look at Q1 of FY21 there would certainly be an impact... Q2 may also be affected as some businesses would have a deeper or continued impact and some businesses may see a quicker recovery. But I do not know whether any business will be back to almost normal in Q2, Singhania told PTI.

When asked if the entire first half of the fiscal would be affected, he said: "Yes, because there would be a gradual opening of the economy.

"It's not the matter of manufacturing units starting up or a company starting up. The entire ecosystem has to function at the same level as dealers, distributors and the demand by the consumers," he said.

The return to normalcy will also depend largely on how quickly the consumers also recover from the overall impact of the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown.

They (consumers) would have to buy at the same level before the shutdown happened," Singhania said, adding for that to happen there would have to be "flow of money and putting back of everything together then only all goods will be consumed.

Commenting on the USD 4 billion JK Organisation, which has a wide range of interest including tyre, paper, cement, auto components, dairy and agro products, singhania said each one has its own issues.

Tyre (JK Tyre) is linked to the auto sector and therefore is dependent on how they bounce back. As of now we expect some demand in agriculture -- faster pickup in the farm sector like tractors.

"Export would continue. Replacement would happen when goods movement through truck fleets start. Also some auto manufacturers have pending orders for which we would supply their tyres as OEM, he said.

In the auto components business, where the group operates through JK Fenner, Singhania said, "it again largely depends on the auto and heavy engineering sectors. Exports orders are there."