Talking to reporters here on Thursday, he pointed out that the loss would be as high as 35 per cent of the current revenue. The minister said that such a move would force the state to approach the Centre with a begging bowl. 

Stating that the revenue from these three commodities directly accrue to the Centre, he said that this was the reason why the state has been opposing calls to bring the three items under GST. This would affect state autonomy, the Minister added.

Referring to the ongoing online registration of land deals, he said the transaction duration has been reduced to a mere 10 minutes from the earlier three to four days. 

Veeramani further added that the online registration of the 17 category of transactions, including marriages, operating chits and registration of societies, has been implemented on a trial basis in the two districts of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.

The Minister later handed over awards and certificates to the 27 winners of various competitions conducted by the state government in connection with the golden jubilee of the state being named Tamil Nadu.

Earlier the Minister along with HR&CE Minister Sevoor S Ramachandran inaugurated a new Rs 32 lakh building for Canara Bank at Ratnagiri and also lit an eternal flame at the Murugan temple.

Those present at the event included temple permanent trustee Balamurgan Adimai, Collector SA Raman, SP Pravesh Kumar and DRO D Sengottayan.