Stranded tourists in Sri Lanka use a free international call facility to call up relatives back home after the tsunamis hit the country’s eastern coast on Dec. 26. India has offered visas on arrival for any tourist leaving the disaster zone but not able to get flights to their destinations. Several thousand Western tourists are among those dead in the devastating tragedy. (Photo: AFP)

NEW DELHI: In comparison to the huge numbers in terms of human lives, the tsunamis that hit India’s east coast on Dec. 26 are not expected to have a great impact on the economy, with the industry lobby Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) putting the total losses as at Rs. 20 billion ($456 million).

“Neither manufacturing nor any other economic activities are going to be adversely impacted due to the tsunami disaster, barring the shipping industry and tourism in Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar islands,” Assocham president Mahendra K. Sanghi said.

The feedback received by Assocham’s affiliated chambers like Madras and Cochin Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Chambers of Commerce estimated the loss could be over Rs. 20 billion.

“Three ships costing around Rs. 1.5 billion have been damaged in Chennai Port and the major part of Port Blair has been severely damaged,” said Assocham.

The worst damage has been to the infrastructure of the coastal areas, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Port Blair. The losses estimated for Andaman and Nicobar Islands exceed over Rs. 10 billion, while Rs. 8 billion worth of losses are estimated for Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The tourism business has been severely affected. This is the peak season in destinations such as Kerala, and travel agents have reported hundreds of cancelations in the wake of the tsunamis. The tragedy is also expected to have put paid to the Ministry of Tourism’s aim of achieving its target of attracting three million tourists in 2004.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also ruled out any major fiscal impact due to the tsunamis.

“It is too early to assess the damage. I don’t think there will be any great fiscal impact,” Chidambaram said. “There is crisis management within the system and the money needed to manage it will be found.”

In a reference to the tourism sector, he said: “There will be a short-term impact, but in the long term there should not be any impact as far as tourists are concerned except in the case of Kanyakumari and the Mahabalipuram area. But all that can be mended in a few days.”

The finance minister said there has not been report of damage to any major ports. Both Chennai and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and Kochi port in Kerala were safe and exports had not been impacted, he said.