Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presents interim Budget for 2026-2027
The interim Budget for the financial year 2026-2027 is being presented in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, 17 February.
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu is presenting the interim Budget ahead of the Assembly elections this year.
Ahead of the 2026 interim Budget, the Tamil Nadu government had released its second Economic Survey of Tamil Nadu (2025–26), which traces the state’s economic performance under the DMK administration over the past five years.
The state recorded real Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth of 11.19 percent in 2024–25, the highest among major Indian states and more than four percentage points above India’s national growth rate of 6.5 percent, according to the survey.
This is the state’s strongest economic performance in 14 years, surpassing its own post-2010 peak of 13.12 percent.
In nominal terms, Tamil Nadu’s economy expanded to ₹31.19 lakh crore, registering nearly 16 percent growth in a single year.
The survey projects this to rise to ₹36.57 lakh crore in 2025–26 and ₹41.03 lakh crore in 2026–27, placing the state on course to achieve its stated ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The finance minister said the Tamil Nadu Government has undertaken several initiatives to expand green cover in the state, inspired by the vision of global poet Khalil Gibran, who celebrated the value of trees and nature.
Recognising the importance of forests in maintaining ecological balance, the government aims to increase forest and tree cover and achieve the national target of 33 percent green cover, he said.
“Over the past five years, 100 new protected forests have been declared across Tamil Nadu to strengthen forest conservation, enhance environmental protection, and implement measures to mitigate climate change. These initiatives also aim to safeguard ecologically sensitive areas and improve the resilience of forest lands.
To address the challenges of rapid urbanisation and climate change, the Tamil Nadu Urban Greening Committee 2026 has initiated urban greening projects. In Chennai, the Thousand-Year Park spanning 13.2 acres has been established at a cost of ₹70 crore, while the Thungapuri Park in Adyar, Chennai, covering 58 acres, has been renovated with an investment of ₹42 crore.”