The report said that the key factor was the massive hoarding done by Indian shoppers in the wake of the corona lockdown. (Photo Credit: DMart Official Site)
New Delhi:
At a time when the top world industry captains are staring at bleak future due to coronavirus pandemic, an Indian billionaire witnessed a stunning net worth growth due to COVID-19 lockdown. Radhakrishan Damani, the founder of DMart, registered an 11 per cent growth in his net worth due to corona lockdown. According to the latest report by Bloomberg, Damani saw his fortune surging to $10.7 billion! The report said that the key factor was the massive hoarding done by Indian shoppers in the wake of the corona lockdown. Damani is one of the 12 billionaires who saw a rise in net worth this year. (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates)
The shopping frenzy at the supermarkets resulted in this stupendous growth. While Damani is clocking record nnumbers, situation is grim fot the original retail king of India. Future Group boss Kishore Biyani is dealing with a massive debt crisis. Despite the web of 1,300 stores across India, Biyani's financial trouble worsening. Amid rising debt stress, Biyani suffered losses with shares of his publicly-traded retail unit plunging 80 per cent in 2020 earlier this year.
Damani is the rare success story in the grim scenario of pandemic-hit world. On Thursday, the IMF had said that the year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva made the remarks during her address on "Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy" ahead of next week’s annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. "Today, the world is confronted with a crisis like no other. Covid-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory," she said. The virus is causing a tragic loss of life, and the lockdown needed to fight it has affected billions of people. What was normal just a few weeks ago — going to school, going to work, being with family and friends — is now a huge risk, she said.
Meanwhile, India saw an increase of 547 new COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours, according to the latest updates by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday morning. This surge took the total number of coronavirus positive cases to 6,412 in India. The death count due to COVID-19 in India rose to 199 with 30 new deaths being reported since Thursday evening. Twenty-five deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Jharkhand. Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients while 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the 6,412 case, 71 are foreign nationals.
(With agency inputs)
