Odisha: Lockdown may further affect state’s revenue
BHUBANESWAR: The 14-day lockdown in four major districts – Ganjam, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur as well as Rourkela Municipal Corporation—till end of the month is likely to impact the state’s revenue collection that has already recorded 23 per cent fall in the first three months (April-June) of the current fiscal.
With movement of people restricted in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Jajpur as part of lockdown restrictions, experts feel it will hit the collection of taxes – mainly GST as commercial establishments are closed and VAT because of fall in sale of petrol and diesel. The state government earns a significant amount of revenue from both GST and VAT.
Sanjay Lath, general secretary of Utkal Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said, “There will be around 65% fall in the sale of petrol and diesel in urban areas because of restrictions in movement of people in the major cities. This will definitely hit the collection of VAT from petrol and diesel.”
As most of the commercial establishments are located in the four major cities, officials anticipate a nearly 40 per cent fall in GST collection.
“Though the GST collection was affected in April and May, there was some improvement in June after the Centre announced Unlock-1. We expect a fall in collection of GST in July because of the current 14-day lockdown,” said a finance department official.