Updated on: Nov 19th, 2024
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5 min read
Under the Government of India, the Finance Minister is solely in charge of the Ministry of Finance. After the independence, the first Finance Minister of India was R.K Shanmukham Chetty, who was responsible for the government's budgetary policy and prepared India’s first budget on 26 November 1947. There have been several Finance Ministers till date.
Let us look at the list of India's Finance Ministers from 1947 to date and their roles and responsibilities to have a clear overview.
After India's independence, there are a total of 28 Finance Ministers in India, considering their term of office of 2 to 4 times. Here is the list of India’s Finance Ministers.
Name | Term of Office |
Liaquat Ali Khan | 29 October 1946- 14 August 1947 |
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty | 15 August 1947- 17 August 1948 |
John Mathai | 22 September 1948- 1 June 1950 |
C. D. Deshmukh | 1 June 1950- 1 August 1956 |
T. T. Krishnamachari | 30 August 1956- 14 February 1958 |
Jawaharlal Nehru | 14 February 1958- 22 March 1958 |
Morarji Desai | 22 March 1958-31 August 1963 |
T. T. Krishnamachari | 31 August 1963- 31 December 1965 |
Sachindra Chaudhuri | 1 January 1966- 13 March 1967 |
Morarji Desai | 13 March 1967- 16 July 1969 |
Indira Gandhi | 16 July 1969- 27 June 1970 |
Yashwantrao B. Chavan | 27 June 1970- 10 October 1974 |
Chidambaram Subramaniam | 10 October 1974- 24 March 1977 |
Haribhai M. Patel | 26 March 1977- 24 January 1979 |
Charan Singh | 24 January 1979-16 July 1979 |
Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna | 28 July 1979- 19 October 1979 |
R. Venkataraman | 14 January 1980- 15 January 1982 |
Pranab Mukherjee | 15 January 1982- 24 January 1987 |
V. P. Singh | 31 December 1984- 24 January 1987 |
Rajiv Gandhi | 24 January 1987- 25 July 1987 |
N. D. Tiwari | 25 July 1987- 25 June 1988 |
Shankarrao B. Chavan | 25 June 1988- 2 December 1989 |
Madhu Dandavate | 5 December 1989- 10 November 1990 |
Yashwant Sinha | 21 November 1990- 21 June 1991 |
Manmohan Singh | 21 June 1991- 16 May 1996 |
Jaswant Singh | 16 May 1996- 1 June 1996 |
P. Chidambaram | 1 June 1996- 21 April 1997 |
I.K. Gujral | 21 April 1997- 1 May 1997 |
P. Chidambaram | 1 May 1997- 19 March 1998 |
Yashwant Sinha | 19 March 1998- 1 July 2002 |
Jaswant Singh | 1 July 2002- 22 May 2004 |
P. Chidambaram | 23 May 2004- 30 November 2008 |
Manmohan Singh | 30 November 2008- 24 January 2009 |
Pranab Mukherjee | 24 January 2009- 26 June 2012 |
Manmohan Singh | 26 June 2012- 31 July 2012 |
P. Chidambaram | 31 July 2012- 26 May 2014 |
Arun Jaitley | 26 May 2014- 30 May 2019 |
Nirmala Sitharaman | 31 May 2019-Till present |
Mr Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty was the first Finance Minister of India, serving his roles and responsibilities from 1947 to 1948. He presented the country’s first budget with an estimation of Rs.171.15 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs.24.59 crore. He was an Indian economist, lawyer and politician. He was also the president of the Central Legislative Assembly of the country between 1933 and 1935.
Nirmala Sitharaman is the first full-time female Finance Minister of India. One of the primary responsibilities that she holds includes presenting the Union Budget.
However, she is not the first female Finance Minister to present the Union Budget. After Morarji Desai resigned from his post in July 1969, Indira Gandhi took charge of the financial portfolio and presented the Union Budget for 1970-1971.
Nirmala Sitharaman is India's first full-time female finance minister. On 31 May 2019, she took over under the Governance of Narendra Modi. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha. On 1 February 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has presented the Union Budget for 2023-24, marking her 5th budget presentation.
The Ministry of Finance led by her comprises the Department of Public Enterprises. This represents a step taken by the government towards privatisation and increased financial control over state-run businesses.
However, in the past, she was India's Defence Minister and became India's second female defence minister. She was also the first female minister to hold both of these positions.
A Finance Minister belongs to the Union Cabinet’s one of the most senior roles and is in charge of the government's fiscal policies. He/she has the overall responsibility for the finance portfolio. Here is the list of roles and responsibilities of the finance minister.
The email ID of Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is appointment.fm@gov.in,fmo@nic.in.
The Finance Minister is among the top ministers of the central cabinet ministers of India and is responsible for supervising the nation's financial institutions.
Also Read: RBI Governors List of India