A new controversy has been initiated by the DMK in Tamil Nadu amidst the ongoing row over ‘Hindi imposition’. The Tamil Nadu government decided to replace the Indian rupee symbol (₹) in the 2025-26 state budget logo with the Tamil script-based “ru” (ரூ). The odd action taken by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin highlighted a comical oversight as the modern rupee symbol was created by a Tamilian. Furthermore, the opposition in the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to educate the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Meet the designer of India’s rupee symbol
The rupee symbol’s origins date back to 2010 when Dr Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, a postgraduate student at IIT Mumbai at the time, was only one or two day away from starting his new position in the design department at IIT Guwahati. Udaya Kumar had become victorious in a nationwide competition to create the rupee’s symbol, which was chosen from more than 3,300 submissions.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which was led by Manmohan Singh at the time, adopted the symbol for Indian currency on 15th July 2010. Interestingly, DMK was part of the alliance that adopted this symbol for Indian currency, and had no problem with it whatsoever at the time.
More significantly, many people are unaware of Udaya Kumar’s connection to DMK. He was born in 1978 as the second of four children to contractor N Dharmalingam and Jayalakshmi. His father was also a DMK MLA in Tamil Nadu. Udaya Kumar, who was born in Marur, close to Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, later disclosed in an interview with “The Hindu” how he combined aspects of Roman and Devanagari scripts to create the rupee symbol.
The final design, he added, combined the Roman ‘R’ for rupees and the Devanagari ‘Ra’ for rupiah, giving it both an Indian and a universal identity. Udaya Kumar, currently in charge of the design department at IIT Guwahati, has created logos for a number of organisations, including the National Testing Agency (NTA) and IIT Hyderabad.
Udaya Kumar remarked that he made the decision to attend the IIT Mumbai, to complete his Master’s and PhD degrees in design. Kumar, who holds an architecture degree, expressed that he was always certain that he wanted to work as a teacher and designer. He aspired to contribute more to Indian scripts, especially Tamil, which was his mother tongue. His PhD and MD projects were also written in Tamil.
Udaya Kumar created pamphlets and posters while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in architecture at Anna University, which helped him discover his passion: visual design. He gained proficiency in typography and graphic design while attending IIT Bombay’s Industrial Design Centre. He continued his contributions to education and design after his achievements.
Kumar revealed that when creating the rupee symbol, he was inspired by the cultural and linguistic diversity found in India. His notion for a distinctive yet globally legible currency symbol was greatly influenced by his love of typography and Indian scripts. As a result of his research, he combined aspects of Latin and Devanagari scripts to guarantee the same. The Indian tricolor served as the inspiration for the symbol’s two horizontal strokes at the top, which stand for advancement and economic stability and aspiration to reduce economic disparity.
Udaya Kumar mentioned, “I realised Indian scripts don’t have their design repertoire. After two years of trying to create something new in Tamil typography, I realised that I shouldn’t work on my own. I needed expert guidance and hence, came to Industrial Design Centre at IIT-Bombay,” while talking to The Times Of India.
He added, “I spent endless nights on trial and error. The symbol had to have universal design features while staying Indian in spirit.”
This accounts for the stroke across the top curve, parallel to the’shirorekha’, the line that heads the alphabet in Devanagari script, and the symbol’s tendency toward the Latin letter form, ‘R’ for rupee. “Most international currencies have double strokes such as the Australian dollar, Korean yen, the Euro or the Lira. The feature pronounce its identity as a currency,” he highlighted.
The Department of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance authorized the rupee symbol in 2010 following its selection. The objective was to attain international recognition within two years and incorporate the symbol into the Indian financial system within six months. On 10th August 2010, the Unicode Technical Committee granted the symbol the code U+20B9 to enable its use in digital and financial systems around the world. Within a year, major IT companies like Apple and Microsoft had integrated the symbol into their keyboards.
BJP’s scathing attack on DMK
The decision to remove the rupee symbol from the state budget of Tamil Nadu was made by the DMK government amid its conflict with the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which the DMK claims is an attempt to force Hindi on the state, is behind this decision. Nonetheless, the action provided the BJP with ammunition to hit out at the DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin.
BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai charged the DMK with disregarding a national symbol designed by a Tamilian. “Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA,” he wrote and then said, “How stupid can you become, MK Stalin.”
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.
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 13, 2025
Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA.
How stupid can you become,… pic.twitter.com/t3ZyaVmxmq
“What the father endorsed, the son rejects,” he remarked in another tweet displaying a picture of Udaya Kumar with M. Karunanidhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and MK Stalin’s father.
TN State Planning Commission’s executive vice chairperson says the ₹ symbol was dropped because it was based on the Devanagari script.
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 13, 2025
TN CM Thiru @mkstalin has surrounded himself with such nincompoops. Mere advertisements and meaningless decisions to hide incompetence:… pic.twitter.com/50ajWjim96
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya too slammed the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for replacing the rupee symbol. “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,” and termed the move as an insult to Tamilians. “Just how ridiculous can one get,” he asked.
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.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 13, 2025
Chief Minister MK Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the ₹ sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document.
Just… pic.twitter.com/UFU1ipxGp6
Former governor of Telangana and BJP’s Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan called the decision a result of DMK’s anti-national mindset and challenged MK Stalin to adopt a Tamil name for himself. He accused the party of fostering separatism and working against national integrity.
Let Tamil Nadu chief minister @mkstalin change his name in to a tamil name…To hide all the failures of his Gov this drama continues….how many years they ruled TN…why now….DMK always talk separitism and withanti National mindset they are against National integrity https://t.co/apHwZ2HKIu
— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisai4BJP) March 13, 2025
While DMK may try to live in a parallel universe, the currency of India is still denoted by ₹, designed by a Tamilian.
