Govt survey: 109,000 job losses at 402 export units

The commerce ministry, which is the nodal government agency for foreign trade, has started monitoring job losses in export-oriented industries.The latest survey of 402 companies done by the ministry has revealed that about 109,000 workers were laid off from export dependent sectors in the current fiscal up to January 15. In addition, these firms have lost Rs 6,272 crore worth of export orders in the same time frame.Officials believe that going by these numbers, the number of job losses in all the export-oriented industries is likely to be about 800,000 to 1 million in the survey period.From the latest list of 402 units, chemical and diamond industries seem to have been the worst affected. Sources said the ministry is carrying out periodic surveys of export-oriented industries to assess the impact of the economic slowdown. “Field officers of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade have been asked to keep a tab on the companies in their respective areas,” the official said.