North Indian states incur loss of Rs 15,000 cr due to floods: SBI

New Delhi, July 19 (KNN) Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Delhi have suffered an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 crore owing to the recent floods, as per SBI’s latest report.

In Himachal Pradesh alone, the loss is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore.

As many as 361 instances of natural disasters have taken place between 2001 and 2022 in the state. Of this, 41% of disasters have occurred in the form of floods.

SBI Research has identified the negligence of the issue of protection gap despite being marred by floods.

Out of the total USD 284 billion global economic losses, natural disasters resulted in USD 275 billion in 2022, of which USD 125 billion were covered by insurance (incurred losses).

The overall protection gap has increased to USD 151 billion in 2022, which is much higher than the 10-year average of USD 130 billion but still at around 54% of the total losses uninsured.

Though still large, this is less than the 61% average protection gap of the previous 10 years. For India, this figure is a staggering 92%.

SBI Research suggests the formation of a ‘Disaster Pool,’ which can be formed in the public-private partnership for providing insurance in cases of natural disaster. This is in addition to the crisis loans and grants, granted by the government.  (KNN Bureau)