Tamil Nadu replaces Rupee symbol with Tamil letter, Escalate language row

In a strong stand against National Education Policy (NEP), M K Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government on Thursday replaced the official rupee symbol (₹) with a Tamil letter ‘Ru’ which comes from ‘rubai’ (rupees in Tamil) in the state’s 2025-26 Budget, which will be tabled on Friday morning.

This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol, taking its resistance to the NEP to a new level.

Stalin shared on X a teaser for the state budget, which will be presented on March 14 in the state assembly, saying: “To ensure the widespread development of Tamil Nadu to benefit all sections of society...” Along with hashtags ‘Dravidian Model’ and ‘TNBudget2025’ the logo for the budget was conspicuously missing the official Rupee symbol, which is inspired by the Hindi alphabet for ‘R’.

In the previous two budgets, the state had used the rupee symbol for its logos.This is the first time a state rejected the national currency symbol. The decision comes amidst the Tamil Nadu government’s resistance against NEP and the three-language formula.

However, DMK spokesperson A Saravanan 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'.

Designer's connection with DMK

Ironically, the rupee symbol was designed by Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, an IIT professor and the son of a former DMK MLA. This fact gave the BJP ammo to launch a scathing attack on the DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin.

BJP state president K Annamalai blasted Chief Minister Stalin for the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to replace the rupee symbol. Schooling Stalin about the design of the rupee symbol, Annamalai wrote: “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. How stupid can you become, Stalin?"