Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26: Emphasis was laid on welfare schemes, infrastructure development, and boosting the economy with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin’s budget casting on the frontier scheme for the financial year 2025-26.
The Budget, ahead of the state Assembly elections in 2026, had been spent alongside a sizeable amount for flagship schemes such as the fare-free bus travel for women under the Magalir Vidiyal Payanam initiative, which has ₹3,600 crore set aside for it, Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu pointed out. Such a scheme is reported to be helping nearly 50 lakh women every day, saving an average of ₹888 a month through the said scheme.
Besides, ₹3,500 crore for the Kalaignar Kanavu Illam housing scheme, a project to construct 1,00,000 houses for underprivileged families across the state, is also particulated. Priority is given to education with ₹2,500 crore for student loans to benefit a lakh college students and another ₹1,000 crore for improving government school infrastructure.
This Budget has plans for the improvement of the 6,100 kilometres of rural roads with the financing of ₹2,200 crores under the infrastructure sector. More so, ₹675 crore was allocated to modernization of drinking water projects whereby an overall of ₹26,000 crore was earmarked within the same for new water supply schemes in Erode, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvallur, and other such districts.
This was in addition to the transport sector receiving a substantial portion of the gross cumulative allocation of ₹12,964 crore, which included the following: ₹3,000 crores on women’s bus travel subsidies, ₹1.782 crore on student fare subsidies, and ₹1,857 crores on diesel subsidies. Detailed plans for expanding the Chennai Metro Rail were also included in this budget and those plans include three new extensions: Chennai Airport to Kilambakkam (₹9,335 crore), Koyambedu to Pattabiram via Avadi (₹9,744 crore) and Poonamallee to Sunguvarchatram (₹8,779 crore).
The budget provided for creating a global city model in economic and cultural aspects to develop a new extensive city near Chennai covering a total area of 2,000 acres with all modern facilities for education, private enterprises, housing, and recreational spaces.
It also includes initiatives in the Budget such as translating 500 Tamil books into other languages and book fairs in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, besides an annual World Tamil Olympiad, with the latter adding a language museum named ‘Agaram’ to Madurai. There will be a new group insurance scheme held for 1.50 lakh workers, while gig performers will be funded ₹20,000 for purchasing e-scooters as support to work.
The announcement of the finance minister that he has pushed for the new airport at Parandur, near Chennai, was part of the whole budgetary proposal directed by the Tamil Nadu welfare government on a strong footing concerning the urban, developmental, transport, and even cultural pursuits at the budget level for the benefit of pre-2026 elections.
Edited by Saumya Sharan
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