Chennai, May 1 (IANS): PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Tuesday said that the Tamil Nadu government's commercial tax revenue fell short of its target of Rs 77,234 crore for 2017-18 fiscal by Rs 4,234 crore.

Ramadoss said that as against a target of Rs 77,234 crore for commercial taxes, collections as per officials was only around Rs 73,000 crore.

In a statement issued here, Ramadoss said that the bulk of the commercial tax revenue is generated from the sale of liquor and taxes on petrol and diesel.

He said if prohibition is implemented in the state and fuel is brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) net, the state will not have any commercial tax revenue.

The PMK leader said that the government can earn around Rs 150,000 crore if it sells river sand and granite without impacting the environment.

Ramadoss said the government earns around Rs 86.33 crore from the sale of river sand whereas the value of sand sold in the state is around Rs 50,000 crore.