Business
Covid inquiry hears impact on firms and staff
Ben King,
Simon Browning and
Archie Mitchell,Business reporters
Getty ImagesWorkers and business leaders have told the Covid-19 inquiry about the devastation they faced during the pandemic and the difficulties they faced accessing support.
Business owners described breaking into tears as they were forced either to lay off staff or shut up shop entirely, while employees told how they feared for their jobs.
The comments were included in 8,000 submissions from the public, and come as the third stage of the inquiry focuses on the measures taken to support workers’ incomes and keep businesses afloat when the pandemic struck.
According to the Treasury, £140bn was spent on support for businesses, much of it going to pay people’s wages when they were forced to stay at home.
The inquiry heard how, on his first day as chancellor in 2020, Rishi Sunak was presented with a briefing on the impact of the Covid outbreak on growth and financial stability.
Two months later, the Treasury concluded the economy was “in hibernation”, with the sharpest fall in output for nearly 100 years.
Sunak is one of the people who will appear before the inquiry, and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will also give evidence in the coming weeks.
Monday’s session opened with emotional video testimony from business owners and freelancers whose livelihoods were upended when Covid lockdowns started.
In the video, Lowri, an events freelancer, explained how she had become desperate as her income stopped and her freelance work vanished. She fought back tears as she explained she qualified for no support. She had a mortgage and a child at home, with “no savings” for back up.
Last week the report on the second phase of the inquiry, into political decision-making, found the government had done “too little, too late”.
The current module, expected to last until just before Christmas, will examine the unprecedented economic intervention rolled out when the first lockdown was announced in March 2020.
The largest scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, known as furlough, covered 11.7 million jobs between March 2020 and September 2021, at a cost of £70bn.
It paid a portion of employees’ wages to ensure they still had an income even if they could not go to work, and to keep businesses going so that they could reopen later.
There was also a support scheme for self-employed people, loan schemes for businesses and business rates relief.
Questions were raised over the scale of the financial support, the strength of safeguards against fraud and error, and whether it delayed people taking up new work roles.
In submissions to the inquiry, employees told the inquiry how they were worried of losing their jobs and faced a scramble to pay bills through the pandemic, with some missing out on furlough payments after being made redundant.
However, others said their careers were rescued by the furlough programme, while some business owners said they were saved by government support schemes and spared having to make redundancies.
As part of the submissions, the owner of a small retailer told the inquiry: “One awful day, I had to call 80% of my staff and tell them that we had to make them redundant because there was no job for them anymore.
“And I cried, I didn’t sleep all night, I was so, so, upset. I had people that had worked for me for seven, eight years, that I had to say, ‘I’m so sorry, I literally can’t afford to pay you anymore because we’ve got no business’.”
Describing flaws in the furlough system, one Northern Irish contributor said her husband lost his job in the run-up to the scheme coming to an end. “It then got extended, but he’d already been let go,” she said.
The Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which was introduced by Sunak, split opinion among bosses.
“When we reopened, it helped to get people back into the pub and it helped us increase our profits,” the finance director of a large English food and drinks firm said.
But an operations manager at a travel and hospitality firm in Wales said: “When we look back, it probably wasn’t the right thing to do, given where we were with the pandemic.”
The Covid Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, is expected to look at 10 areas in total, and provide lessons for managing future pandemics.
This phase of the inquiry will also look at the additional funding provided for public services such as the railways to keep them running during lockdowns, and support for the voluntary and community sector.
It will examine decisions on benefits, sick pay and support for vulnerable people.
Also appearing before the inquiry are:
- Former Treasury officials James Benford and Dan York-Smith
- Representatives of the charities Child Poverty Action Group, Long Covid Support and Disability UK
- Former Downing Street special adviser Ben Warner
- Former director general for analysis of the Covid-19 Taskforce, Robert Harrison.
Last week, Sunak told the BBC the government and scientific community were “operating in a highly uncertain environment”.
“I think we do need to view the decisions taken through that lens.
“But it’s important that lessons [are] learned so that we can be better prepared if there’s ever another pandemic.”
NEW DELHI: People with job cards assigned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme will be able to get work without disruption when transition takes place to new rural employment framework under Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act.Even though exact timeframe is not known yet, rural development ministry officials said the VB-G RAM G scheme will come into force in the coming financial year after the Centre frames and notifies the rules. After govt notifies the Act’s commencement date, states will get six months to make their schemes to enable implementation of the law.To ensure there is no disruption and job guarantee is upheld during transition from MGNREGA, it has been proposed to enable workers to use the same job cards issued under MGNREGA with Aadhaar-based eKYC.The officials said that as of now, around 75% of job cards have been verified with eKYC under the ongoing scheme. Moreover, ongoing projects under MGNREGA, if incomplete when the transition happens to the new scheme, would stay on course.Meanwhile, work is on to frame rules, lay out regulations on normative allocations, fund flow plan, IT framework, a national-level steering panel and social audits.Under the new law, focus will be on transparency to weed out leakages and duplicacy of work,the social audit system will be strengthened, and technology leveraged to create systems to establish work progress, timely wage payment and accountability through ‘e-measurement’ books, sources said. Demand for work will have to be entered on a digital platform. Officials made it clear the new law in no way interferes with demand-driven character of the scheme.
Business
Gurugram Attracts Rs 86,588 Crore In Real Estate Investments In 2025 As RERA Clears 131 Projects
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Alongside rising investments, Gurugram RERA strengthened regulatory oversight to safeguard homebuyer and investor interests
Gurgaon Real Estate (Representative Image)
Gurugram emerged as one of India’s top real estate investment destinations in 2025, with projects worth Rs 86,588 crore receiving regulatory approvals during the year, according to data from the Gurugram Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Gurugram RERA).
Market observers said the numbers reflect strong investor confidence in the NCR’s largest commercial and residential hub.
Gurugram RERA registered 131 projects in calendar year 2025, representing development potential of 35,455 units across housing and commercial segments.
A striking feature of the data was the dominance of large-ticket projects. Just 28 major developments accounted for investments worth Rs 59,360 crore, highlighting the growing influence of institutional capital and large developers in shaping Gurugram’s property market.
Residential assets continued to attract the bulk of investment interest. Of the total units approved, 31,455 were residential, underscoring sustained end-user demand and long-term confidence in the city’s housing fundamentals.
According to Authority data, the residential mix included 17,405 group housing units, 5,720 mixed land use units, 4,040 residential floor units, 2,122 affordable group housing units, 1,954 units under the Deen Dayal housing scheme, and 214 residential plotted colony units.
Market observers said this diversified supply pipeline indicates capital deployment across both premium and mass segments, helping reduce concentration risk and deepen market resilience.
On the commercial side, Gurugram RERA approved about 4,000 commercial units, of which 168 were dedicated to IT parks, reinforcing Gurugram’s position as a preferred hub for technology firms and Global Capability Centres.
Analysts noted that the combination of office-led employment growth and residential expansion continues to make Gurugram attractive for long-term capital deployment.
Industry experts said the scale of investments approved in 2025 highlights Gurugram’s ability to attract capital despite global uncertainty, supported by infrastructure growth, a strong corporate base and an improving regulatory environment.
“With a large pipeline of approved projects and sustained interest from developers and institutional investors, Gurugram is expected to remain a key real estate investment destination in the coming years,” a Gurugram-based real estate expert said.
Tighter regulatory checks
Alongside rising investments, Gurugram RERA strengthened regulatory oversight to enhance transparency and safeguard homebuyer and investor interests.
“These steps included stricter scrutiny of developer submissions, mandatory site inspections by domain experts, and public consultation through mandatory notices before project registration,” an Authority official said.
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January 16, 2026, 07:44 IST
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National Startup Day highlights India’s thriving startup ecosystem, celebrating innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation driven by founders, unicorns and Startup India mission
National Startup Day 2026 honours Indian startups, entrepreneurs and innovators driving economic growth and job creation.
National Startup Day 2026: India’s startup ecosystem has evolved into one of the world’s most vibrant and promising innovation hubs. To recognise the contribution of entrepreneurs, founders and startups transforming ideas into impactful solutions, National Startup Day is observed every year on January 16 across the country.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022, the day celebrates visionary entrepreneurs who play a crucial role in economic growth, employment generation and technological advancement.
National Startup Day serves as a reminder that innovation, backed by determination and policy support, can reshape society and create global impact.
National Startup Day 2026 Theme
The official theme for National Startup Day 2026 is yet to be announced. However, the core focus areas are expected to revolve around:
- Innovation and emerging technologies
- Entrepreneurship and leadership
- Self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat)
- Startup India Mission
- Youth empowerment
- Job creation
How Startups Are Shaping India’s Future
India currently ranks as the third-largest startup ecosystem globally, with over 1.59 lakh startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as of early 2025. Backed by 100+ unicorns, the ecosystem continues to grow rapidly.
Metro cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR lead this expansion, while Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are emerging as new innovation centres, adding diversity and scale to India’s entrepreneurial journey.
Startups across fintech, edtech, health-tech, e-commerce and deep-tech are addressing real-world challenges and gaining global recognition. Technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain and IoT are increasingly driving innovation, according to Startup India ecosystem reports.
Industry-Wise Startup Impact
DPIIT-recognised startups have generated over 16.6 lakh direct jobs across sectors as of October 31, 2024, strengthening India’s employment landscape.
- IT Services: 2.04 lakh jobs
- Healthcare & Life Sciences: 1.47 lakh jobs
- Commercial & Professional Services: 94,000 jobs
Through the Startup India initiative, the government continues to focus on skill development, funding access, ecosystem collaboration and global outreach.
Key Initiatives Under Startup India
- Capacity building and mentorship
- Outreach and awareness programmes
- Ecosystem development events
- International exposure and global linkages
- Collaboration between startups, corporates and institutions.
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January 16, 2026, 07:00 IST
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