Last Updated on June 9, 2026 by Gaurav
Since Independence of India in 1947, the country has seen several Finance Ministers. All played a significant part in the country’s economy. The Finance Minister’s position is one of the most vital in the Government of India whether it was building the nation after partition in 1947, opening the economy in 1991, or managing the nation’s budgets in difficult times. Here is the complete list of Finance Ministers of India.
Complete List of Finance Ministers of India (1947 – 2026)
Here is the complete list of Finance Ministers of India as per the Department of Economic Affairs:
| No. | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Liaquat Ali Khan | Oct 1946 to Aug 1947 |
| 2 | R. K. Shanmukham Chetty | Aug 1947 to Aug 1948 |
| 3 | John Mathai | Sep 1948 to Jun 1950 |
| 4 | C. D. Deshmukh | Jun 1950 to Aug 1956 |
| 5 | T. T. Krishnamachari | Aug 1956 to Feb 1958 |
| 6 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Feb 1958 to Mar 1958 |
| 7 | Morarji Desai | Mar 1958 to Aug 1963 |
| 8 | T. T. Krishnamachari | Aug 1963 to Dec 1965 |
| 9 | Sachindra Chaudhuri | Jan 1966 to Mar 1967 |
| 10 | Morarji Desai | Mar 1967 to Jul 1969 |
| 11 | Indira Gandhi | Jul 1969 to Jun 1970 |
| 12 | Yashwantrao B. Chavan | Jun 1970 to Oct 1974 |
| 13 | Chidambaram Subramaniam | Oct 1974 to Mar 1977 |
| 14 | Haribhai M. Patel | Mar 1977 to Jan 1979 |
| 15 | Charan Singh | Jan 1979 to Jul 1979 |
| 16 | Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna | Jul 1979 to Oct 1979 |
| 17 | R. Venkataraman | Jan 1980 to Jan 1982 |
| 18 | Pranab Mukherjee | Jan 1982 to Jan 1987 |
| 19 | V. P. Singh | Dec 1984 to Jan 1987 |
| 20 | Rajiv Gandhi | Jan 1987 to Jul 1987 |
| 21 | N. D. Tiwari | Jul 1987 to Jun 1988 |
| 22 | Shankarrao B. Chavan | Jun 1988 to Dec 1989 |
| 23 | Madhu Dandavate | Dec 1989 to Nov 1990 |
| 24 | Yashwant Sinha | Nov 1990 to Jun 1991 |
| 25 | Manmohan Singh | Jun 1991 to May 1996 |
| 26 | Jaswant Singh | May 1996 to Jun 1996 |
| 27 | P. Chidambaram | Jun 1996 to Apr 1997 |
| 28 | I. K. Gujral | Apr 1997 to May 1997 |
| 29 | P. Chidambaram | May 1997 to Mar 1998 |
| 30 | Yashwant Sinha | Mar 1998 to Jul 2002 |
| 31 | Jaswant Singh | Jul 2002 to May 2004 |
| 32 | P. Chidambaram | May 2004 to Nov 2008 |
| 33 | Pranab Mukherjee | Nov 2008 to Jun 2012 |
| 34 | P. Chidambaram | Jun 2012 to May 2014 |
| 35 | Arun Jaitley | May 2014 to May 2019 |
| 36 | Nirmala Sitharaman | May 2019 to Present |
Who is the Current Finance Minister of India?
The current Finance Minister of India is Nirmala Sitharaman. On May 31, 2019 she took charge of the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs. She is the first female to become a full-time Finance Minister in the country. As of 2026, she has presented a total of 9 budgets during her tenure.
Key Facts About Finance Ministers of India
First Finance Minister: R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (1947)
First Female Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman (2019). She is also the first woman to serve as a full-time Finance Minister, not just as a temporary charge.
Most Budgets Presented: Morarji Desai presented 10 budgets, including two interim budgets, making him the Finance Minister with the most budget presentations in Indian history.
Most Tenures as Finance Minister: P. Chidambaram served as Finance Minister four times under different governments, the most by any individual.
Longest Continuous Tenure: Nirmala Sitharaman has been serving continuously since May 2019, making her one of the longest-serving Finance Ministers in recent history.
Notable Finance Ministers and Their Contributions
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (1947 to 1948): He was the first person to present the first budget of free India. His primary task was to stabilize the economy following partition when the resources of the country had been divided and trade and agriculture had been affected.
C. D. Deshmukh (1950 to 1956): He was the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before taking a Finance Minister post. He had a significant contribution in establishing the initial framework of economic planning in India and he was a supporter of the first Five-Year Plan.
Morarji Desai (1958 to 1963 and 1967 to 1969): Morarji Desai has presented the most number of budgets in the history of India. He was a strong advocate of fiscal discipline and conservative on government spending.
Manmohan Singh (1991 to 1996): His role is among the most significant ones in the economic history of India. In 1991, India had a very serious balance of payments problem. The foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to the point where India was not even able to cover two weeks of imports.
Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, implemented noteworthy economic reforms. He deregulated industries, slashed import duties and removed the old Licence Raj system from the Indian economy.
P. Chidambaram (Multiple terms from 1996 to 2014): P. Chidambaram had four terms of Finance Ministry during various governments. His “Dream Budget” of 1997, which drastically reduced income tax rates and streamlined the tax structure.
Arun Jaitley (2014 to 2019): The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in 2017 and is India’s largest tax reform since Independence. GST introduced a single tax regime nationwide, instead of a number of different taxes.
Nirmala Sitharaman (2019 to Present): Nirmala Sitharaman is the current Finance Minister. She has presented the highest number of consecutive Union Budgets by any finance minister. She was responsible for managing India’s economy during the COVID-19 situation.
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