Even with a downturn over the past few days, experts said there was no certainty that infections had peaked, with alarm growing both at home and abroad over the new more contagious B.1.617 variant taking hold.

“There are still many parts of the country which have not yet experienced the peak, they are still going up,” World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan was quoted as saying in the Hindu newspaper.

The budget aimed to revive Asia’s third-largest economy via investing in infrastructure and health care, while relying on an aggressive privatisation strategy and robust tax collections – on the back of projected growth of 10.5 per cent – to fund its spending in the fiscal year.

He said that the per day industry’s losses have gone up to Rs 1,600 crore in May from Rs 400 crore in the beginning of April as more states announced lockdown and lockdown-like restriction in the subsequent period amid the massive spike in Covid-19 infection cases in the country. ”In the first 15 days of April, the industry was facing Rs 400 crore per day, which rose to Rs 800 crore per day by April 30.

They have now doubled to Rs 1,600 crore per day till May 15. So, as of May 15, the industry’s cumulative losses were a whopping Rs 42,000 crore,” said Singh. He said that the rising diesel prices, besides the impact of the lockdown was adding to the woes of the industry.