Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin has served as the 8th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 7 May 2021 to 9 May 2026. He is the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). During his tenure, the state government had implemented policies and programmes in the state such as economic development, infrastructure, social welfare, education, environmental sustainability, and administrative efficiency.
His tenure had included initiatives such as the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme for skill development, the Green Tamil Nadu Mission aimed at increasing the state’s green cover, and the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme to address child nutrition. The government had also introduced measures related to social justice, including appointment of individuals from various castes as temple priests.
Economic policies During Stalin's tenure, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India, Tamil Nadu recorded a nominal 16% growth in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the 2024–25 financial year. The GSDP at current prices increased to ₹31.19 lakh crore in 2024–25, compared with ₹26.89 lakh crore in the previous financial year. The real GSDP growth rate for 2024–25 was 11.19%, marking the first time in 14 years that it exceeded 10%, and surpassing earlier estimates of 9.69%. For 2025–26, the real GSDP growth rate was reported at 10.83%.
Significant investments were made in the Indian automotive sector in the years 2025 and 2026. In August 2025, the Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast inaugurated a new manufacturing plant in Thoothukudi, with a reported investment of billion (₹16,000 crore). Subsequently, in February 2026, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover inaugurated a multi-energy vehicle plant in Ranipet, built at a cost of approximately billion (₹9,000 crore), for the production of both internal combustion engine and electric vehicles.
Investment policy During the financial year 2021 to 2023, the Tamil Nadu government reported attracting an investment of ₹9.74 lakh crore, alongside the creation of an estimated 31 lakh jobs across various industrial projects. According to the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the data for the annual survey of industries (2022-23) indicated that employment in the manufacturing sector increased by 7.5% during the period, with Tamil Nadu recorded as having the highest number of factories and industrial workers in the country. As of 2024, the Government oF$f Tamil Nadu states that it has secured total investment commitments of approximately ₹10.27 lakh crore, with an estimated 32.33 lakh employment opportunities associated with these projects.
Tidal Neo Park The Tidal Neo Park is a small-scale information technology park, scheme announced in the Tamil Nadu 2021–22 state budget, aims to promote IT sector growth in the state’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Each Tidal Neo Park ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 sq ft in built-up area. The first park was inaugurated in Villupuram in 2024, followed by facilities in Thanjavur, Salem, Thoothukudi, Tiruppur, Karaikudi, Ooty and the most recent park in Vellore, inaugurated on 5 November 2025 at a cost of ₹32 crore. Each park is designed to accommodate 450–600 professionals.
The parks provide modern office infrastructure for IT and ITeS companies and startups, with the objective of supporting local employment and reducing migration to larger urban centres.
Vision 2030 Tamil Nadu is India's second largest economy, contributing 9.21% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For the year 2023–24, the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was reported at approximately billion, equal to ₹27.22 lakh crore. The government has announced a long-term economic plan to transform the size of the state’s economy to 1 trillion US dollars by 2030. The vision, presented by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, outlines objectives such as accelerating industrial development, strengthening the state’s role in global manufacturing unit, improving per capita income of the state. The currently per capita income is estimated at about . The targeted economic expansion is projected to require sustained real economic growth in the range of 9% to 13% annually.
Tamil Nadu's first agriculture budget Stalin released Tamil Nadu's first ever agricultural budget on 14 August 2021, which was dedicated to farmers protesting against the farm laws passed by the Union Government. The one of a kind budget was prepared after consulting farmers from 18 districts of the state and it predominantly aimed at increasing the cultivable land from the existing 60 per cent to 75 per cent. At present, about 10 lakh hectares of land is under cultivation and the agriculture budget promises to increase it to 11.75 lakh hectares.
Under the budget, the newly launched ‘Kalaignarin Anaithu Grama Orunginaindha Velan Valarchi Thittam’, has been introduced to convert wasteland into cultivable land.
Infrastructure
Metro Stalin's administration has prioritized infrastructure projects across the states in order to achieve a $1 trillion economy by 2030. The Chennai Metro Rail Phase II project, consisting of a 118.9km route with 128 stations, was proposed by the State Government and expected to complete by 2027. However, in August 2024, the Central Government withdrew its funding for the project. After follow-up from the State government, the central government has approved the project in October 2024.
In the 2023–24 Tamil Nadu state budget, the state government proposed metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai, allocating ₹9,000 crore and ₹8,500 crore respectively. The proposals were subsequently returned by the Union Government of India, which cited the population of both cities as being below 20 lakh, in accordance with the criteria outlined in the Metro Rail Policy. The Government of Tamil Nadu expressed concerns regarding what it described as an uneven application of the policy, noting that metro rail projects had been approved for other cities, including Agra, Patna, and Bhopal, despite their populations being below the same threshold.
Airports Parandur Greenfield Airport, located near Chennai, was proposed by the Government of Tamil Nadu in August 2022, considering the existing Chennai International Airport at Meenambakkam is operating near its capacity limits and lacks modern infrastructure, making it difficult to accommodate the increasing passenger and cargo traffic. Land acquisition already commenced, and the construction expected to start late 2026.
On 27 June 2024, Stalin made a suo motu statement in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly proposing the construction of a new international airport at Hosur. The proposed airport was planned to be developed over an area of about 2,000 acres and designed to handle approximately 30 million passengers annually. On 18 January 2026, the Union Ministry of Defence rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s request to establish an airport at Hosur.
Urban and rural road works Tamil Nadu has about 1.38 lakh km of rural and panchayat roads. As of mid-2024, government has completed 8,120 km of these roads had been improved, and a proposal for improving 10,000 km has been allocated a budget of ₹4,000 crore, with the work expected to be completed in two years. In addition, the government has completed the construction of high-level bridges, conversion of causeways into bridges, upgradation of major state highways and expressways, development of ring roads and bypasses, and modernization of major bus stands.
In October 2025, an elevated four-lane flyover expressway on Avinashi Road in Coimbatore was inaugurated. The structure is long and wide, and was constructed at a cost of . In December 2025, a four-lane flyover at the Melamadai junction in Madurai was inaugurated. The flyover was officially named after named after freedom fighter Velu Nachiyar, it is long and was constructed at a cost of .
Bus terminus Between 2021 and 2026, the Government of Tamil Nadu, under Chief Minister Stalin, undertook the development and inauguration of several bus terminus and transport infrastructure projects across the state. These included the Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus in Kilambakkam, Chennai, Panjappur Integrated Bus Terminus in Tiruchirappalli, new bus stands at Ramanathapuram and Mayiladuthurai, and an Integrated Solar Bus Stand, Erode. In addition, renovation and modernization works were carried out at existing bus stands, including the Periyar Bus Stand in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Thanjavur.
Law and order
Case withdrawals On 24 Jun 2021, Stalin announced the withdrawn of 5,570 cases that had been filed during the previous AIADMK led government between 2011 and 2021 against journalists, media personnel, and protesters. According to the data these cases were relate to Farm Bill protest 2831 cases, CAA protestors 2282 cases, Methane, neutrino, and Salem expressway projects protestors 405 cases, Koodankulam nuclear protest 26 cases and Media personnel 26 cases.
Crime reduction statistics On 20 March 2025, during the Tamil Nadu assembly session, Stalin responded to the leader of Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami, and stated that the state recorded 1,540 murders in 2024 making the lowest in the past 12 years. He compared the statics with the previous AIADMK period noting that 1,943 murders in 2012, 1927 murders in 2020, and 1661 murders were reported in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Major Welfare Schemes
Zero-Ticket Bus Travel scheme for women The free bus travel scheme for women in Tamil Nadu, titled Magalir Vidiyal Payanam in Tamil (also referred to as the Zero-Ticket Bus Travel scheme), was launched on 7 May 2021 by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The scheme provides free travel for women on ordinary government operated city and town buses across the state of Tamil nadu. Reports by the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission in 2022 noted that beneficiaries recorded monthly savings in the range of ₹400–₹800. A government update released in May 2025 estimated the average monthly savings at around ₹888.
As of October 2024, the average rides 57 lacks women travelling and benefited by this scheme daily. By May 2025, the total number of zero-ticket rides recorded under the scheme reached approximately 682.02 crore, reflecting a significant increase since its introduction. Similar free bus travel initiatives for women have also been introduced in other Indian states, including Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir.
Pudhumai Penn Stalin launched the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance scheme titled 'Pudhumai Penn' at a function in Chennai on 5 September 2022, in the presence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The scheme was transformed from Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme to the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance Scheme after recognising that in higher education, the enrolment ratio of girls from government schools was quite low. During the event Kejriwal unveiled 26 schools of excellence and 15 model schools set up by the Tamil Nadu government. Under Pudhumai Penn scheme, girl students, who studied from Class VI to Class XII in state government schools would be paid a monthly assistance of ₹1,000 till they complete their graduation or diploma. Through the scheme, about six lakh girls would be benefited every year. The state government allocated ₹698 crore in the 2022–23 budget for the scheme.
Stalin also announced that 25 schools run by municipal corporations would be elevated as Schools of Excellence in the first phase at a cost of ₹171 crore. The classrooms in these Schools of Excellence would be modernised and art, literature, music, dance, sports among others would be promoted among students.
Tamil Pudhalvan