BENGALURU: The complete lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the Karnataka government in the very first month of 2020-21 fiscal. The losses in the form of the state’s own tax revenue from different sources are pegged at Rs 10,675 crore for April.

Though excise duty on liquor sales contributes significantly to the state’s revenues, the closure of liquor outlets for 42 days contributed to a shortfall of Rs 2,856 crore. The government hopes to make up for this with the additional 17-25 per cent hike announced after liquor shops were allowed to open on May 4.

The state, however, is not hopeful of receiving GST compensation at least till July-end as the Centre has extended the time to file GST returns. The government had earlier announced that additional DA for its employees and pensioners will be stopped retrospectively from January 1.