Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu will present the state budget for 2025-26 on Friday amid the ruling DMK’s war of words with the BJP-ruled centre. This will be fifth Budget of the present DMK government since led by Chief Minister MK Stalin since storming to power in 2021.
The Budget speech will begin at 9.30 am in the Assembly Hall of the Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex at Fort St. George campus in Chennai.
This will be Thennarasu’s second Budget after he was made the Finance Minister in a Cabinet shuffle in May 2023. Thennarasu presented his first Budget in February last year.
Later in the day, the Tamil Nadu assembly’s Business Advisory Committee would meet and decide on the duration of the Budget session likely to begin on March 17. On March 15, state Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam would present the Agriculture Budget.
The state government would also present the advance demands for grants for 2025-26 and the final supplementary demands for grants for 2024-25 in the Assembly on March 21.
The alleged lack of funds for major projects for Tamil Nadu in the Union Budget for 2025-26 may come in for discussion in the Assembly. The sentiments of political parties over the National Education Policy (NEP) and related issues such as Samagra Shiksha and PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) are likely to echo in the Tamil Nadu assembly too during the Budget session.
The Budget assumes significance as Tamil Nadu goes to the polls next year. It also comes amid a highly charged political atmosphere in the state over two contentious issues: the three-language row and delimitation.
Amid a fierce language tussle with the Centre, the Stalin government replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol ‘ ₹’ with a Tamil letter in its logo for the budget 2025-26, sparking a political row.
The logo for the budget, released by the government on Thursday, carried ‘ru, ‘ the first letter of the Tamil word ‘Rubaai, ‘ which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman condemned the DMK government’s act and asked them why they did not protest back in 2010 when the Congress officially adopted the symbol.
$ 1trillion economy by 2030: Economic Survey
The state’s first Economic Survey 2024-25 has laid an ambitious economic roadmap for Tamil Nadu. However, the survey highlights the “policy constraints” imposed by the Union government, which it claims have hindered the state’s potential for even greater growth, according to a report in Indian Express.
Notwithstanding these challenges, Tamil Nadu’s economy is expected to sustain a growth rate exceeding 8 per cent, with a vision to achieve a $ 1trillion economy by 2030, says the survey, officially handed over to Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday
The survey, prepared by the State Planning Commission in collaboration with the finance department, criticises the Union government’s policies. It says that the constraints such as fiscal borrowing caps, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) have stifled the state’s ability to reach its full potential.
Many announcements expected
A number of crucial announcements are likely to be outlined in today’s budget, especially in the social sector, where the state government has been increasing expenditures, and in other sectors, as Tamil Nadu will face the Assembly election in 2026.
An announcement regarding the Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme may be expected, since Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin recently hinted to expand the schemes to benefit more women. Under this scheme, the DMK government provides financial assistance of ₹1,000 every month to the women residents of Tamil Nadu.
The opposition parties, especially the AIADMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been targeting the state government on the alleged deterioration of law and order and ‘mounting debts’ and they are likely to raise these issues during the Budget session.
Live Streaming of Budget in Chennai
Greater Chennai Corporation has arranged to screen the live streaming of Budget at about 100 locations in Chennai including at the Chennai Central Railway Station, Koyambedu Bus Terminus, Marina Beach, Pondy Bazaar Road, and Thiruvanmiyur Beach.
The logo for the budget carried ‘ru,’ the first letter of the Tamil word ‘Rubaai,’ igniting a political row.
The live telecast commences from 9.30 am.
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