Tamil Nadu govt's move to replace rupee symbol signals dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday slammed the Tamil Nadu government's move to replace the rupee symbol with a Tamil character, saying that it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity.

The logo for the state 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.

Hitting out at the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) over the rupee symbol row, the Union finance minister said in a post on X that the party should have protested when the symbol was adopted by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2010.

“By erasing rupee symbol, DMK not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding creative contribution of a Tamil youth,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.

The finance minister said that the move is more than mere symbolism—"It signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride."

"A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism,” said Sitharaman.

Meanwhile, the ruling DMK defended its party-led government replacing the Indian rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its logo for the budget 2025-26, saying there was nothing wrong in using the native language.

State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu is scheduled to table the budget for 2025-26 on Friday in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Here is Nirmala Sitharaman's full statement

The DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol ‘ ₹’ from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented tomorrow.

If the DMK (@arivalayam) has a problem with ‘ ₹’, why didn’t it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the @INCIndia -led UPA government, at a time when the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre?

Ironically, ‘ ₹’ was designed by Th. D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth.

Moreover, the Tamil word ‘Rupaai’ (ரூபாய்) itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word ‘Rupya,’ meaning ‘wrought silver’ or ‘a worked silver coin.’ This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, ‘Rupaai’ remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

In fact, several countries, including Indonesia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, officially use ‘Rupee’ or its 'equivalent/derivatives' as their currency name.

Rupee symbol ‘ ₹’ is internationally well-recognized and serves as a visible identity of India in global financial transactions. At a time when India is pushing for cross-border payments using UPI, should we really be undermining our own national currency symbol?

All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Removing a national symbol like ' ₹' from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity.

This is more than mere symbolism—it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism.