COVID dealt a heavy blow to India’s small businesses, but some have used technology and creative thinking to survive.
![Manohar Wagle, 62, owner of the Wagle Sports shop in Mumbai, says his small business was forced to respond to a sudden shift in shopping habits as customers sought to shop online due to the coronavirus pandemic [File: Tish Sanghera/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/India-small-business-Manohar-Wagle-2-by-Tish-Sanghera.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Tish Sanghera is a journalist based in Mumbai, India, where she writes about economic, political and social issues. Twitter: @TishSanghera
COVID dealt a heavy blow to India’s small businesses, but some have used technology and creative thinking to survive.
![Manohar Wagle, 62, owner of the Wagle Sports shop in Mumbai, says his small business was forced to respond to a sudden shift in shopping habits as customers sought to shop online due to the coronavirus pandemic [File: Tish Sanghera/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/India-small-business-Manohar-Wagle-2-by-Tish-Sanghera.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
After a record slump caused by a national lockdown, India’s economy is showing signs of life but faces a long road back.
![Coronavirus cases and deaths from the virus are surging in India once again [File: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-27T092655Z_2140962927_RC2LBK9XKCK2_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-INDIA-DELHI.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Biden’s approach to trade, climate and even the pandemic could bring more benefits to India than Trump’s, say analysts.
![Some analysts expect President-elect Joe Biden to roll back tariffs the Trump administration put on Indian goods and reinstate the GSP as a way to rebuild trust and strengthen relations [File: Adnan Abidi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/india2.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Four more years of Trump could mean more hardship for Indian firms, but a Biden presidency may not be too different.

People under 30 have been badly hit by job losses due to COVID-19, eroding one of India’s key economic advantages.

As cases of COVID-19 rise in India and a national lockdown is extended, many businesses wonder how they will manage.

Internal migrants form crucial part of India’s economy, but many say they have been forgotten in the coronavirus crisis.

More than 80 percent of India’s workers do not have paid sick leave, leaving their livelihoods vulnerable to the virus.

Already under pressure to revive production and consumption, policymakers now have coronavirus working against them.

With growth at a six-year low, finance minister’s first budget of decade fell short of widely expected reforms.
