6 May 2020
E
CO
S
COPE
The Economy Observer
Understanding the Indian economy through districts
Orange zone most important from economic growth perspective
Since mid-Apr’20, when the government announced Lockdown 2.0 ending May 3, 2020, India’s landscape has been divided
into three zones – Red, Orange, and Green – based on the concentration of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. The list was
refreshed at the end of Apr’20, when the government decided to introduce Lockdown 3.0, which would extend up to May
17, 2020. The lockdown is being exercised more severely in the Red zone, while daily life is relatively the easiest in the
Green zone. In this note, we have compiled various macroeconomic statistics, such as population, bank credit, bank
deposits, and labor market statistics, and sorted them to understand the importance of these three zones from an economic
growth perspective. The key conclusions are listed below and related data/charts are appended on subsequent pages.
The number of districts per zone, as per the latest list, stood at 130 (Red), 284 (Orange), and 319 (Green), accounting for
18%, 39%, and 43%, respectively, of the 733 districts in the country
(Exhibit 1 on the following page).
The shares of the
Red and Green zones dropped from 23% and 49%, respectively, in mid-Apr’20, while the share of the Orange zone
increased. Still, the Green zone has the maximum number of districts (43%), but the Orange zone has witnessed the
highest increase (77).
The division of population (using Census 2011 data) in these three zones confirms the Orange zone accounts for 44% of
India’s population, followed by 32% in the Red zone, and the remaining 24% in the Green zone. The ratio was almost
equal in these zones in mid-Apr’20; however, almost a fourth of the population in the Green zone in mid-Apr’20 is now
classified under the Orange zone. The share of the Red zone has also fallen to 32% from 36% earlier
(Exhibit 2).
Details about Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suggest that while the
Red zone houses 38% of banks’ reporting offices in the country, more than 70% of SCBs’ credit is owed to the borrowers
in the Red zone. The Orange zone accounts for another 21% of credit, while ~40% of reporting offices are in the Orange
zone. Just about 8% of credit is owed to the Green zone
(Exhibit 3).
Similarly, the Red zone accounts for 62% of SCBs deposits, with the Green zone contributing just ~12% to bank deposits.
The remaining 26% of deposits come from offices in the Orange zone
(Exhibit 4).
Unit-level details regarding India’s labor market from the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2017–18 confirms the
Orange zone accounts for 41% of India’s employed population, followed by 32% in the Red zone, and 27% in the Green
zone
(Exhibit 5).
Moreover, since the Red zone includes most of the metropolitan cities, the share of unemployed
population is marginally higher at 35%; however, the Orange zone leads at 40%
(Exhibit 6).
On an aggregate basis, more than half of India’s workforce is classified as ‘self-employed’ workers (partnership firms,
proprietorships, etc.), followed by almost a quarter as ‘casual workers’, and the remaining 23% as regular wage /
salaried workers
(Exhibit 7).
District-wise details of India’s workforce suggest that almost half of India’s regular wage /
salaried people belong to the Red zone, while the Green zone accounts for less than a fifth of regular workers. The
Orange zone has 42–44% each of ‘self-employed’ and ‘casual workers’
(Exhibit 8).
Similarly, while just ~43% of all workers work in the manufacturing and services sectors
(Exhibit 9),
the Red zone
accounts for 42–44% of the industrial and services workforce in the country. Interestingly, the Orange zone accounts for
~45% each of agricultural and construction workers, the vulnerable working sections, in the country
(Exhibit 10).
Finally, the summary table shows the relevance of the top 10 affected districts (in terms of confirmed cases of COVID-
19) up to the top 50 districts
(Exhibit 11).
The top 10 districts account for 5% of the population, 39% of SCBs’ credit, 29%
of deposits, 5% of total employment, and 12.5% of regular wage / salaried workers in the country. The shares go up to
16%, 53%, 47%, 17.5%, and 33%, respectively, when we look at the top 50 affected districts in the country.
Overall, the Orange zone has expanded substantially in the second half of Apr’20 and holds the maximum importance
from an economic activity perspective (on account of having a higher share of the population and workforce). The Red
zone, however, accounts for a disproportionately higher share from the perspective of banking businesses.
Nikhil Gupta – Research Analyst
(Nikhil.Gupta@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 6129 1555
Yaswi Agarwal
– Research Analyst
(Yaswi.Agarwal@motilaloswal.com); +91 22 7193 4196
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on
www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities,
Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.