Blockade impact 'Revenue collection has fallen by 70 pc'
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 04 2026: Manipur's revenue collection has fallen by 70 percent from previous year amid the unrest affecting the transport sector.

A highly placed official in the Taxation Department said the State's revenue collection declined sharply from April this year.

The sharp decline of around 70 percent in revenue collection is a direct result of prolonged closure of National Highway-2 due to blockades and limited transport of only some select goods on the National Highway-37, said the official.

Blockade impact 'Revenue collection has fallen by 70 pc'

The NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur) has been shut to transport of goods since mid May due to economic blockades in the hills.

And, the flow of goods on the NH-37 (Imphal-Jiribam) has remained limited due to dilapidated conditions of the road and security concerns.

Emphasising that the State's economy at present has been put under devastating pressure, the Taxation official said the decline in the revenue collection (GST) is due to a fall in import of certain high value goods which form a major chunk of the State's revenue.

Most of the items being transported into Manipur amid blockades now are essential goods which are GST exempted items, said the official.

Most of the items being transported are fruits, vegetables, animal products, natural and agricultural products.

Even the transport of these essential items is limited under present conditions, said the official.

One of the sectors that generates the most revenue for the State is the automobile market.

But, this market has now failed in Manipur with showrooms running out of vehicle stock, said the official.

Showrooms of most companies including Hyundai, Suzuki, Honda, Bajaj are sitting empty with no vehicles in stock.

Other items that generate most revenue after automobiles are luxury and electronics items.

The flow of these items has also been restricted and is very limited at present, added the official.

For example, the sale of television sets has declined sharply.

Television sets of some brands were not available during the FIFA World Cup, said the official.

Further, the E-commerce sector has also been hit the hardest.

With major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart no longer shipping goods to Manipur, the State has lost a fairly large chunk of the important revenues, stressed the official.

With the State's economy under pressure, prices have inflated and the purchasing power of the people has dropped, meaning individual economy of the public has also been put under stress.

Prolonged blockades of the highways may do more damage in the coming days and weeks, and the impacts may last months in the absence of immediate relief, said the official.