The reduction in petrol price by ₹3 in Tamil Nadu has resulted in a 12% increase in sales, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan informed the Assembly on Thursday.
“We have reduced the sales tax, but not the Union government. The sales have increased by 11.29 lakh litre a day. We do not know whether this [trend] would continue or not. If it does, it will bring ₹3.55 crore a day and the Union government will get ₹1,200 crore in additional revenue,” he said in his reply to the debate on the revised Budget for 2021-22.
Mr. Rajan said the price cut prompted people to use more petrol, having a multiplier effect on the economy.
He also made out a strong case for data-centric governance. He said he would request the Chief Minister to prevail upon the Union government to establish a data collection and sharing model. “We are making efforts to enact a law that will allow the Union government to share date on income tax, petrol and diesel use and vaccination.”
He said the role of two members of the Economic Advisory Council to the Chief Minister was important. “Jean Dreze has written extensively about it. All the statistical offices of the Union government have stopped functioning. The Indian Statistical Institute has stopped collecting data...,” he said. The Union government, he added, was functioning without data. “Aravind Subramanian, the former adviser to the Union government, will be helpful in this regard.”
