Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has etched her name in history by becoming the longest continuously serving Finance Minister of India.
As of today, she has served for six years and 54 days, surpassing the record held by CD Deshmukh, who was the finance minister from 1950 to 1956.
Sitharaman also holds the distinction of being the only finance minister to have presented eight consecutive Union Budgets-each under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This feat surpasses the earlier benchmark set by former PM Morarji Desai, who had presented six budgets in a single term from 1959 to 1964, and four more during a later period.
A historic budgetary milestone
With this year’s Budget, Sitharaman inched closer to Desai’s overall record of 10 budgets, though his tenure spanned different periods. Former finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee had presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, across multiple administrations. However, Sitharaman now holds the record for most budgets presented in a row by any finance minister in Indian history.
Her record-setting run is backed by a legacy of resilience and reform. From overseeing the corporate tax rate cut and steering the economic response during the Covid-19 crisis, to pushing through bold disinvestment drives such as Air India’s sale, Sitharaman has helped reshape the contours of India’s fiscal strategy.
Trailblazer in governance and economic policy
Joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008, Sitharaman rose swiftly through the ranks, becoming the party’s national spokesperson in 2010. After serving as Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, and later as Minister of Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), she was appointed India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister in 2019.
Prior to her finance role, she also served as India’s Defence Minister from 2017 to 2019, where she accelerated procurement decisions and constituted a Defence Planning Committee to modernise India’s security framework. A Member of Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman was originally elected from Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
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Who is finance minister and what do they do?
The Finance Minister of India heads the Ministry of Finance and plays a pivotal role in shaping the country’s economic policy. As one of the most senior positions in the Union Cabinet, the finance minister is tasked with presenting the annual Union Budget, which outlines the government’s revenue and expenditure plans.
This position has historically been a stepping stone to higher office; several former finance ministers-including Morarji Desai, V.P. Singh, and Manmohan Singh-went on to become Prime Ministers, while R. Venkataraman and Pranab Mukherjee became Presidents of India.