TN BUDGET BALANCES DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARISM, TARGETS FISCAL DEFICIT OF 3%

If electoral politics is a game of chess, Thangam Thennarasu could well be an aspiring grandmaster. Presenting his last full-fledged budget before the 2026 assembly election, the Tamil Nadu finance minister on Friday moved the welfare and development pieces in tandem to present a growth-oriented budget that sought to be as populist as prudent.

Chennai garnered the bulk of the new infrastructure projects including a new global city in its vicinity, expansion of metro rail network and a sixth water reservoir. Despite increased outlay for infra and welfare programmes and drying up of central funds, Thennarasu sought to keep the finances in the safe zone, aiming to bring down fiscal deficit to 3% (of GSDP) by the end of the fiscal (it was 3.56 in 2021-22). The optimism stems from the experience of 2024-25, when the state reduced revenue expenditure (Rs 3.4 lakh crore) and revenue deficit (Rs 46,467 crore) to contain the fiscal deficit at 3.26%.

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