Nirmala Sitharaman, the first full-time finance minister of India, will present her 9th Union budget on 1st February, 2026. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for the most number of budgets as a finance minister. In this article, we will learn about the complete list of India's finance ministers from 1947 to the present.
List of Home Ministers of India (1947-2026)
List of Finance Ministers of India
Sir Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty KCIE (17 October 1892 – 5 May 1953) holds the distinction of being India’s first Finance Minister post-independence. He presented the country’s inaugural budget on 26 November 1947.
| S.N. | Name | Term of office | Political Party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Liaquat Ali Khan | 29 October 1946 | 14 August 1947 | All-India Muslim League | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 2. | R. K. Shanmukham Chetty | 15 August 1947 | 17 August 1948 | Indian National Congress |
|
| 3. | John Mathai
| 22 September 1948 | 26 January 1950 | ||
| 26 January 1950 | 6 May 1950 | ||||
| 6 May 1950 | 1 June 1950 | ||||
| 4. | C. D. Deshmukh | 1 June 1950 | 13 May 1952 | ||
| 13 May 1952 | 1 August 1956 | ||||
| 5. | 1 August 1956 | 30 August 1956 | |||
| 6.
| T. T. Krishnamachari
| 30 August 1956 | 17 April 1957 | ||
| 17 April 1957 | 14 February 1958 | ||||
| 7. | Jawaharlal Nehru | 14 February 1958 | 22 March 1958 | ||
| 8.
| Morarji Desai
| 22 March 1958 | 10 April 1962 | ||
| 10 April 1962 | 31 August 1963 | ||||
| 9. | T. T. Krishnamachari | 31 August 1963 | 31 December 1965 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| 10.
| Sachindra Chaudhuri
| 1 January 1966 | 11 January 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri
| |
| 11 January 1966 | 24 January 1966 | ||||
| 24 January 1966 | 13 March 1967 | ||||
| 11. | Morarji Desai | 13 March 1967 | 16 July 1969 | Indira Gandhi | |
| 12. | 16 July 1969 | 27 June 1970 | |||
| 13.
| Yashwantrao B. Chavan
| 27 June 1970 | 18 March 1971 | ||
| 18 March 1971 | 10 October 1974 | ||||
| 14. | 10 October 1974 | 24 March 1977 | |||
| 15. | Haribhai M. Patel | 26 March 1977 | 24 January 1979 | Janata Party | Morarji Desai |
| 16. | Charan Singh | 24 January 1979 | 16 July 1979 | ||
| 17. | Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna | 28 July 1979 | 19 October 1979 | Janata Party (Secular) | Charan Singh |
| 18. | R. Venkataraman | 14 January 1980 | 15 January 1982 | Indian National Congress | Indira Gandhi
|
| 19.
| 15 January 1982 | 31 October 1984 | |||
| 31 October 1984 | 31 December 1984 | ||||
| 20.
| V. P. Singh
| 31 December 1984 | 14 January 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| 14 January 1985 | 30 March 1985 | ||||
| 30 March 1985 | 25 September 1985 | ||||
| 25 September 1985 | 24 January 1987 | ||||
| 21. | 24 January 1987 | 25 July 1987 | |||
| 22. | N. D. Tiwari | 25 July 1987 | 25 June 1988 | ||
| 23. | Shankarrao B. Chavan | 25 June 1988 | 2 December 1989 | ||
| 24. | Madhu Dandavate | 5 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | Janata Dal (National Front) | V. P. Singh |
| 25. | Yashwant Sinha | 21 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party | Chandra Shekhar |
| 26. | 21 June 1991 | 16 May 1996 | Indian National Congress | P. V. Narasimha Rao | |
| 27. | Jaswant Singh | 16 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | Bharatiya Janata Party | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 28. | P. Chidambaram | 1 June 1996 | 21 April 1997 | Tamil Maanila Congress | H. D. Deve Gowda |
| 29. | I.K. Gujral | 21 April 1997 | 1 May 1997 | Janata Dal | I. K. Gujral |
| 30. | P. Chidambaram | 1 May 1997 | 19 March 1998 | Tamil Maanila Congress (United Front) | |
| 31.
| Yashwant Sinha
| 19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 13 October 1999 | 1 July 2002 | ||||
| 32. | Jaswant Singh | 1 July 2002 | 22 May 2004 | ||
| 33. | P. Chidambaram | 23 May 2004 | 30 November 2008 | Indian National Congress | Manmohan Singh |
| 34. | 30 November 2008 | 24 January 2009 | |||
| 35.
|
| 24 January 2009 | 22 May 2009 | ||
| 23 May 2009 | 26 June 2012 | ||||
| 36. | Manmohan Singh | 26 June 2012 | 31 July 2012 | ||
| 37. | P. Chidambaram | 31 July 2012 | 26 May 2014 | ||
| 38. | 26 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) | Narendra Modi | |
| 39. | 31 May 2019 | Present | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) | Narendra Modi | |
The department of public enterprises has been included under the Ministry of Finance which would still be headed by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. It has been decided in the most recent cabinet reshuffle. This move of including DPE in the FM is said to be a step towards privatization and financial influence on the state-run enterprises. Know more about the Finance Ministers of India below.
Who is the Current Finance Minister of India?
Nirmala Sitharaman is the current finance minister of India. She was appointed as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs on 31 May 2019. She became India’s first full-time female Finance Minister. She presented her maiden budget in the Indian Parliament on 5 July 2019. Sitharaman has presented six budgets from 2019 to 2024, including the interim budget for 2024. With the presentation of the Union Budget in February 2024, she became the first finance minister to deliver seven consecutive budgets.
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