With the nationwide lockdown extended by another two weeks, and with several relaxations announced across the country, now the prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked by Rs 3.25 and Rs 2.50 per litre as the Tamil Nadu government revised the Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel.

The modification in VAT structure was done by the state government as it is expected that the selling price of fuel by the Centre will be reduced. In case VAT wasn't modified the reduction in the selling price of fuel would have impacted the revenue of the state government.

It has been predicted that the VAT increase might generate an additional revenue of Rs 250 crores for TN government. The govt also recently froze the Dearness Allowances for state government employees, which was estimated to bring a revenue of 4500 crores to the TN government.