India suffers $100B losses due to El Nino drought

Global Business

India is currently experiencing a severe drought which has caused deaths, water shortages and crop failures. And the country will also suffer financially, thanks to El Nino.

It’s expected that India’s losses will add up to around $100 billion. And while the coming La Nina might bring India some much-needed rain, it will take more than one good monsoon season to wash away the savage effects of the El Nino.

CCTV’s Shweta Bajaj has more from New Dehli.

10 states across India are suffering from massive droughts, impacting 330 million people out of its 1 billion population.

A study done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce shows two consecutive years of droughts have led to a massive water shortage.

The situation is so grim, and a large part of the money earmarked for the country’s development will now have to go towards aid and subsidies.

This places much pressure on the government and the economy- the drought has also created inflationary pressures making food management a challenge in the coming months.

India is looking at the upcoming monsoons as a silver lining, but economists said the country should also be looking at the drought as a warning sign of things to come. Climate change and global warming are starting to impact the Asian region. Two-thirds of India’s agricultural land is dependent on monsoons. And with its ground reservoirs drying up, it looks like India will have to look at other ways to irrigate its farmlands.

The impact of the drought will take a toll on India’s dream of becoming a trillion dollars economy with no poor people by 2032.

Even though the country has a national crop insurance scheme, many Indian farmers don’t even have the money to pay the premiums for it.

But with El Nino weakening and La Nina coming in, the monsoons are expected to be good in India. Nonetheless, it is highly unlikely that the rains will help, as most farmers are in debt and lack the capital to even buy seeds.