Punjab's bugbear: Minister thinks Chandigarh is cutting state's revenue

A minister in the Punjab government feels the administration in Chandigarh is killing his state's revenue, and wondered if it was a deliberate attempt because the state had a Congress government. On Friday, when the state finance ministers from the north zone gather in New Delhi for a meeting, many such contentious issues are expected to be discussed. Some states, Punjab in particular, want uniformity in motor vehicle registration tax. That is because people from Punjab go to Rajasthan to buy vehicles as the tax in that state is lower.

Punjab also suffers when Chandigarh lowers its taxes on petrol and diesel. Chandigarh currently charges Rs8 per litre less on petrol than Punjab, while diesel is cheaper in that state by Rs 4. Chandigarh is a union territory and its revenues go to the Consolidated Fund of India.