Tamil Nadu's Ambitious Budget 2025-26: Empowering Women, Education, and Infrastructure

Tamil Nadu's 2025-26 Budget focuses on welfare, particularly benefiting women. Major allocations include Rs 3,600 crore for free bus travel for women, and a 20% subsidy for women entrepreneurs. The budget also outlines development in education, infrastructure, and industrial transformation, amidst political opposition criticisms and challenges from the central government.

Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M K Stalin and his DMK government unveiled the 2025-26 Budget, emphasizing welfare schemes, especially for women, ahead of the forthcoming state elections.

The Budget introduces substantial allocations, including Rs 3,600 crore for fare-free bus travel, with 65% of beneficiaries being women. New measures, such as reduced registration fees for women and loans for women entrepreneurs, aim to boost female participation in the workforce.

Despite political tensions and opposition walkouts over alleged corruption, the budget outlines investments in education and infrastructure, including funds for digital devices for students and the establishment of semiconductor parks to advance the state's industrial growth.

(With inputs from agencies.)