India’s Oil Revenue Loss in Lockdown Seen Exceeding $5 Billion

India’s 40-day lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus is curbing oil demand and reducing the government’s tax income from the petroleum industry, which contributes about a fifth of budget revenue.

Consumption of fuel products probably declined at least 80% in April, which would lead to a revenue loss of as much as 400 billion rupees ($5.3 billion), according to estimates from Madan Sabnavis, an economist at Care Ratings Ltd. That means the lockdown has cost the government about $175 million a day in lost oil revenue this month.