Dehradun: Uttarakhand state government has formed a task force to asses economic situation of the state amidst lockdown and suggested remedial measures. Over 60,000 industries of the hill state have been temporarily suspended as the lockdown was enforced last month.
Amit Negi, secretary finance, Uttarakhand said, "A team has been constituted to assess the economic situation and submit remedial measures. The report will be submitted soon."
Uttarakhand state is alreadty starting at revenue loss of around 1000 Crore due to ongoing lockdown amidst Covid-19 outbreak.
Officials from state finance department said that if situation continues, the losses might double in upcoming month.
The ongoing lockdown to battle Covid-19 epidemic has inflicted a blow on the state’s revenue collection. According to official data, Uttarakhand is staring at a revenue loss of around Rs 950 crore due to the lockdown.
The officials also added that the revenue collection has been severely affected due to slip in products and services.
The government usually gets revenue mostly from essential supplies sold in the market and GST collections from these shops. The officials said that since the GST is mostly zero for essential items, unless they’re branded, there is almost no respite in the sight until lockdown opens.
The state government has picked up Rs 1000 debt to fulfil the gap and manage expenses.
At present, the star government relies on six major sources of revenue generation, including earnings through GST. This earning from the GST amounts to around 60% of state government's monthly revenue.
The other sources include mining activities (₹50-60 crores per month), revenue from forests (₹40-50 crores per month), excise (around ₹250-300 crores per month), vehicle registration (₹100-150 crores per month) and vehicle tax (₹80-90 crores per month).
The state also earns around ₹600-700 crores a month from the Centre’s share of taxes. Experts stated that the state government's share of central taxes is also expected to remain low this month as import and export along with other commercial activities have been put on hold due to the lockdown.
Uttarakhand is also set to lose Rs 12000 Crore business turnover if Char Dham Yatra is cancelled. More than 90% of booking of accommodation and transportation vehicle has already been cancelled and threat of suspending the pilgrimage lurks.
The stakeholders include temple trusts, hotels, restaurants, chopper companies which provide rides, transportation vehicles- private and government owned, owners of mules and many others.
However, the rituals at all four shrines- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri will continue.