Guwahati, March 13 -- After Tamil Nadu introduced a new rupee 'Ru' symbol on its state budget, IIT Guwahati professor Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, the designer of the official Indian rupee symbol, expressed surprise over the debate surrounding the change.

Speaking to ANI, Dharmalingam said that he doesn't have complete information about the reasons for this change, which he designed to represent India's cultural and economic identity.

"I don't have complete information behind the reasons of this change; probably, the state government has their own ways, views, and reasons to make the changes. I designed this 15 years ago when the Central government floated a competition and I won it, after which they implemented it and it's being widely us...