Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to hike the salary of MLAs from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1,05,000, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

According to reports, the chief minister also announced that MLA Local Area Development Fund would be increased from Rs 2 crore to 2.5 crore.

Ex MLAs also get a raise to Rs 20,000 as opposed to Rs 12,000 earlier.

The revised salary comes to effect retrospectively from July 1, 2017. The decision brought an immediate cheer to MLAs across party lines.

After the chief minister's announcement, most MLAs appeared very enthused. But DMK legislators restrained themselves from celebrating.

"Each and every MLA must be happy inside. But due to party restrictions, they may not be able to express their joy," remarked Speaker P Dhanapal.