Country's second largest jaggery market in Vizag shuts down after demonetisation

The demonetisation of high value notes has hit the Anakapalli jaggery market in Visakhapatnam hard, as which it shut down on Thursday.  

The country’s second largest jaggery market, which has reportedly never shut down till date except during farmer protests, has decided to keep the market closed till normalcy returns, the Anakapalli Merchants Association said.

Recently, after the government put a limit on ATM and bank withdrawals, traders were finding it difficult to conduct transactions with limited cash. 

It was also reported that traders in the market did not have money to pay people involved in other aspects of the trade, like transport, due to the cash crunch.

“We have to pay half the transportation charges in advance to the lorries. But the banks are giving only Rs 24,000 per week. Leave lorry charges, we are not even able to pay the luggage auto-rickshaws that bring the material to the market yard. Moreover, if the payments to farmers are not done in eight days, we have to pay interest from the ninth day,” former president of Anakapalli jaggery market T Raghu Babu told Times of India.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that demonetisation has attacked India's parallel economy that was running outside the banking system for the last 70 years and a "new normal" will become the way for the country.

Jaitley said that though the move is bound to cause initial inconvenience, in the long run it will be welcomed by all, including traders.

"At the end of the day, Indian shopkeeper, traders will also realise that formal official trade is a superior way of doing business than the shadow economy. It brings everyone in the cleaner system of economy and will be welcomed by all in the long run," he added.