Tamil Nadu drops rupee symbol from state budget, sparks language row

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has intensified the language debate with the central government by dropping the official rupee symbol from the state's 2025-26 budget. Instead, the budget logo features the Tamil letter for ‘ru’ from rubai (rupees in Tamil), marking a significant shift in state representation.

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The teaser for the upcoming budget, set to be presented on March 14, was shared on social media. Notably, the logo did not include the national rupee symbol, which is inspired by the Hindi letter for ‘R’. In the previous two budgets, Tamil Nadu had prominently used the rupee symbol, including in 2023-24, when it was designed by an IIT-Guwahati professor, the son of a DMK leader. 

சமூகத்தின் அனைத்துத் தரப்பினரும் பயன்பெறும் வகையில் தமிழ்நாட்டின் பரவலான வளர்ச்சியை உறுதி செய்திட…#DravidianModel#TNBudget2025pic.twitter.com/83ZBFUdKZC

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin)

சமூகத்தின் அனைத்துத் தரப்பினரும் பயன்பெறும் வகையில் தமிழ்நாட்டின் பரவலான வளர்ச்சியை உறுதி செய்திட…#DravidianModel#TNBudget2025pic.twitter.com/83ZBFUdKZC

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 13, 2025

">March 13, 2025

This move makes Tamil Nadu the first state to reject the national currency symbol, aligning with its broader opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language formula. The decision has sparked political controversy, with critics accusing the DMK government of linguistic separatism.

Opposition leaders have criticized Stalin’s move, calling it an unnecessary deviation from national unity. However, the state government maintains that the change is not a rejection of the rupee symbol but an effort to promote the Tamil language. The debate continues as the Tamil Nadu budget presentation approaches, with political and linguistic sentiments running high.