Pains And Gains Of Demonetisation

The cancellation of 86 per cent of india’s currency has hit business across sectors. Will this short-term pain bring long-term gain?

- M.G. Arun and Shweta Punj

The usually bustling vegetable and fruit market under the Maharashtra Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Vashi in Navi Mumbai wears a desolate look on Saturday, November 19. The 5,000-strong traders at the mandi laze near their wares on a sweltering afternoon, as just a few turn up to buy. Prices of vegetables and fruits have crashed by half in this wholesale market, one of the state’s 305 regulated mandis, ever since high-value currencies were demonetised through a surprise government announcement on November 8. “Business has fallen from Rs 8-10 crore earlier to just Rs 4 crore at present,’’ says Sanjay Pansare, a former director at the APMC. The number of trucks coming to the market has halved, with the transport of fruits from interior Maharashtra almost halted, while several loads of vegetables are left to rot. What’s more scary, says Pansare, is that no one knows how long this will last.