The Tamil government’s decision to replace the Indian rupee symbol with a new logo – Tamil alphabet ‘Ru’ – has triggered a massive political controversy amid the ongoing language battle. Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday released the logo online while unveiling the Budget 2025-26 logo. This has drawn huge criticism from the Opposition, with the Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling it “condemnable and laughable”.
The controversial move by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has brought attention to an ironic fact – the now-dropped rupee symbol by the state was designed by a Tamilian man, D Udaya Kumar.
Who is D Udaya Kumar?
D Udaya Kumar, currently working as a professor at IIT Guwahati, designed the Indian rupee symbol in 2010 during the Manmohan Singh regime. He is the son of N Dharmalingam, a former DMK MLA who represented the Rishivandiyam constituency in Tamil Nadu.
Mr Kumar’s design was chosen from 3,000 entries submitted nationwide, and he received an award of Rs 2.5 lakh. The symbol is a blend of Indian and Roman letters – capital ‘R’ and Devanagri ‘Ra’ which represents rupaiah. It has two horizontal stripes at the top, symbolising the national flag and the “equal to” sign.
The Centre had officially adopted the rupee symbol on July 15, 2010.
According to his website, Mr Kumar has a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and a Master’s Degree in Design (visual communication). He completed his PhD in design from the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. The Indian rupee designer has also worked as a senior designer and then as a design head in a monthly magazine – Intelligent Computing CHIP.
Mr Kumar’s areas of interest include visual communication design, architecture, and design research with a special focus on Tamil typography.
Speaking to NDTV, Mr Kumar said he was proud of his creation but refused to snub the state government, adding that the decision did not impact him since a designer must be ready to face such challenges in his work.
“Not all our designs are successful or appreciated. You may also face criticism. As a designer, you always take them positively, learn from them, and move on. I do not see this (move) as disrespectful or a disregard of my work,” he said.
