Interestingly, Tamil Nadu had used the official rupee symbol in its previous two budgets. Even the 2023-24 budget prominently displayed the symbol, which was designed by Udaya Kumar, a professor from IIT-Guwahati and the son of a former DMK MLA.
Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has stirred a major controversy by removing the official rupee symbol from the logo of the upcoming state budget for 2025-26. The state budget will be presented on March 14 in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
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The move is being seen as an escalation of the ongoing language row between the Tamil Nadu government and the central government.
Stalin shared a teaser of the state budget on social media platform X, highlighting the state’s vision for development.
He stated, “To ensure the widespread development of Tamil Nadu to benefit all sections of society…” and used hashtags like “#DravidianModel” and “#TNBudget2025.”
However, the teaser caught attention for omitting the official rupee symbol, which is inspired by the Hindi alphabet for ‘R‘. Instead, it used the Tamil letter for ‘ru‘ from the Tamil word ‘rubai‘, meaning rupees. This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol in its official documentation.
Interestingly, Tamil Nadu had used the official rupee symbol in its previous two budgets. Even the 2023-24 budget prominently displayed the symbol, which was designed by Udaya Kumar, a professor from IIT-Guwahati and the son of a former DMK MLA.
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DMK spokesperson A Saravanan clarified that the decision was not an act of rejecting the official rupee symbol but an attempt to promote the Tamil language.
He said, “It was not the state rejecting the official rupee symbol, but an attempt to promote the Tamil language with the usage of the letter ‘ru’.”
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from opposition leaders, especially the BJP.
BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai criticized Stalin for replacing the rupee symbol.
He said, “The DMK government’s State Budget for 2025-26 replaces the rupee symbol designed by a Tamilian, which was adopted by the whole of Bharat and incorporated into our currency.” He also pointed out that the designer of the rupee symbol, Udaya Kumar, is “the son of a former DMK MLA” and questioned, “How stupid can you become Mr MK Stalin?”
Annamalai further stated in an interview with India Today TV that Stalin has made “the Tamil people a laughingstock of the nation.”
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan also criticized the move, saying that the Chief Minister “can’t act stupid and instigate people in the name of state’s rights.”
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya joined the criticism by highlighting the Tamilian roots of the rupee symbol’s designer.
He said, “Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam is an Indian academic and designer, son of a former DMK MLA, who designed the Indian rupee sign, which was accepted by Bharat. Chief Minister MK Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document. Just how ridiculous can one get?”
The controversy over the rupee symbol comes amid Tamil Nadu’s continued opposition to the central government’s National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language formula. The state has long resisted the imposition of Hindi and has consistently promoted the use of Tamil in official and educational spaces.
While the Tamil Nadu government insists the move is about celebrating and promoting the Tamil language, opposition leaders argue it undermines national unity and disrespects a symbol that holds significance across India.
