Kohima, April 28: Nagaland has become the first state to levy cess on petrol and diesel to recover financial losses due to coronavirus lockdown. The Nagaland government will charge Rs five on per litre of diesel and Rs 6 on petrol and motor spirit. The decision was taken to combat the financial crisis due to the outbreak of coronavirus outbreak. The notification has come into effect from Tuesday. Coronavirus Cases in India Near 30,000-Mark After 1,594 Tested Positive For COVID-19 in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll Climbs to 934.

Till now, no COVID-19 cases have been reported from this northeastern state of India. However, the 33-year-old patient from Nagaland is reportedly undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) since April 12. The state government has continued to maintain that there is no COVID-19 case in the state. Recently, Assam also increased prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 5 per litre and Meghalaya announced a two  percent sales tax surcharge, reported NDTV. Coronavirus Effect: India's GDP May Slip Below 3% in FY21 if COVID-19 Proliferates, Says KPMG Report.

Notification by Nagaland Government:

Earlier in the day, Moody's Investors Service predicted reverse growth of the India economy due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Moody's slashed India growth forecast for the calendar year 2020 to 0.2 per cent, from 2.5 percent projected in March. For 2021, Moody's expects India's growth to rebound to 6.2 percent.

In its report titled - Global Macro Outlook 2020-21 (April 2020 update), Moody's has lowered G-20 advanced economies as a group to contract by 5.8 percent in 2020. Moody's said the economic costs of coronavirus crisis amid the near shutdown of the global economy are accumulating rapidly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 28, 2020 10:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).