Lockdown costs Punjab ₹120cr daily in revenue
LOSS Govt gets bulk of revenues from GST, state excise, VAT on petrol and diesel, stamp duty and registration charges, but these have dried up due to lockdown
CHANDIGARH : With the 21-day nationwide lockdown bringing all business activity to a grinding halt, Punjab is taking a hit of ₹120 crore in its tax and non-tax revenues daily.
The state government gets bulk of revenues from goods and services tax (GST), state excise, value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel, stamp duty and registration charges, motor vehicle tax and other fees, but these have dried up as all businesses, services and offices across the state are functioning at a minimal level due to the lockdown.
“The tax collections and fees have been down to naught from the time the lockdown was announced about a week ago. There is no business activity and, therefore, no revenues are accruing,” said finance department sources. Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had announced the total lockdown in the state on the day of the voluntary 14-hour nationwide ‘janta curfew’ on March 22. A day later, he imposed a curfew across the state as people were defying the restrictions, making Punjab the first state to take the drastic action. Then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 21-day national lockdown from Tuesday midnight.
All shops, malls, liquor vends, educational institutions, etc, and most government offices have remained closed since. However, the state’s businesses and service industry had started feeling the impact of coronavirus even before the statewide shutdown kicked in as the state government had suspended public transport services and shut down restaurants, hotels, marriage palaces and dining places, except home delivery services and takeaways, besides restricting the size of public gatherings to 20 people, a few days earlier.
The revenue loss does not augur well for the debt-laden state government which has had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get funds to meet its growing financial liabilities, particularly salaries, pensions, interest payments, and power subsidies, in the past three years.
On Wednesday, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal had said that the state would be able to weather the three-week national lockdown, but anything further would mean a huge problem.
STAFF SALARY TO BE PAID ON TIME
The state government will pay salaries to its employees, including contractual, daily work charge and outsourced ones, in the government departments, statutory bodies and semi-government institutions on time.
“Government staff need not worry. We have enough funds to disburse salaries. After the financial year (2019-20) closing on March 31, the salaries will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of employees from April 1 onwards in accordance with the bills sent by departments. Arrangements are being made to ensure there is no delay in the release of salaries,” a senior finance department official said. The government’s monthly outgo on staff salaries is more than Rs 2,100 crore.