The Seeds Freeze Into The Pods

Before the cold wave, the government had estimated rabi production to be just under 100 million tonnes—which wasn't enough to make up for the shortfall of 20 million tonnes during the earlier drought-affected kharif season. Now, if the rabi yields are even lower, total annual foodgrain production could take a major hit. The only silver lining, according to Ramaswamy, is that "lower wheat production may be somewhat good for the government, which has huge food stocks and has been forced to export it at subsidised prices."

But it will lead to lower economic growth, especially since the manufacturing sector too has not been performing well. In fact, certain industrial sectors too have been hit by the cold wave. For example, cement sales have been subdued and producers expect the situation to continue till February-end. The cement firms contend that the low temperatures have forced private individuals to postpone construction decisions. Prices have nosedived by 10-15 per cent in northern and western states like Haryana, Rajasthan and UP.

Similarly, the transportation and aviation sectors have also been at the receiving end. Airlines have been forced to cancel flights; planes on some days couldn't take off from Delhi airport till 10 in the morning. So was the case with trains, with many running late. Road transport virtually came to a standstill, both among individuals and truckers. In fact, tyre companies also say sales have been affected because of non- and slow-moving trucks. (A six-wheel truck typically uses 10-11 tyres every year, and trucks account for 70 per cent of the annual tyre sales in the country.)

In this state of despair, there's some good news of sorts. For obvious reasons, sale of alcohol (especially rum) has gone up. Also, room heaters are flying off the shelves. In the garment segment too, sale of winter clothes has been higher. And the hotel sector is booming, with five-star hotels in Delhi running at 100 per cent occupancy. A part of the reason for this is because several airlines were forced to accommodate passengers and crew in hotels due to flight delays.