List of Finance Ministers of India from 1947 to 2024: Complete Timeline and Political Affiliation
India is a developing country, where there are still people in poverty and still infrastructural requirements that need to be fulfilled. However, the country is cash strapped at times like this and the role of finance minister becomes much more important. As they are the ones who prepare the budget and decide which sector will get what funding. As money makes the world go round, it becomes crucial to ensure the growth of a nation. Today in this article we’ll discuss all finance ministers of India from 1947 till 2024. Let’s Have look at them.
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List of Finance Ministers of India from 1947 till 2024:-
India has seen some of the brilliant finance ministers since independence. They have nurtured this beautiful country and took it to the position it is in today. Indian finance ministers have steered the nation out of some very bad times such as the Balance of Payments Crisis, American Stock Exchange crash and World wide depression and recessions. Apart from this the Finance Ministers of India have also a duty to safeguard the Indian financial system and markets from the harsh externalities as India is still in the developing phase and will not be able to compete with developed nations. Another important function of the Finance Minister is to control the supply of money and maintain financial stability in the nation. So let’s have a look at all the Finance Ministers India has had Since Independence.
| Finance Minister | Term of Office (Start) | Term of Office (End) | Prime Minister |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liaquat Ali Khan | 29 Oct 1946 | 14 Aug 1947 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| R. K. Shanmukham Chetty | 15 Aug 1947 | 17 Aug 1948 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| John Mathai | 22 Sep 1948 | 26 Jan 1950 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 26 Jan 1950 | 06 May 1950 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| 06 May 1950 | 01 Jun 1950 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| C. D. Deshmukh | 01 Jun 1950 | 13 May 1952 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 13 May 1952 | 01 Aug 1956 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | 01 Aug 1956 | 30 Aug 1956 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| T. T. Krishnamachari | 30 Aug 1956 | 17 Apr 1957 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 17 Apr 1957 | 14 Feb 1958 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | 14 Feb 1958 | 22 Mar 1958 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Morarji Desai | 22 Mar 1958 | 10 Apr 1962 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 10 Apr 1962 | 31 Aug 1963 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| T. T. Krishnamachari | 31 Aug 1963 | 31 Dec 1965 | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 31 Aug 1963 | 31 Dec 1965 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | |
| Sachindra Chaudhuri | 01 Jan 1966 | 11 Jan 1966 | Lal Bahadur Shastri |
| 11 Jan 1966 | 24 Jan 1966 | Indira Gandhi | |
| 24 Jan 1966 | 13 Mar 1967 | Indira Gandhi | |
| Morarji Desai | 13 Mar 1967 | 16 Jul 1969 | Indira Gandhi |
| Indira Gandhi | 16 Jul 1969 | 27 Jun 1970 | Indira Gandhi |
| Yashwantrao B. Chavan | 27 Jun 1970 | 18 Mar 1971 | Indira Gandhi |
| 18 Mar 1971 | 10 Oct 1974 | Indira Gandhi | |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam | 10 Oct 1974 | 24 Mar 1977 | Indira Gandhi |
| Haribhai M. Patel | 26 Mar 1977 | 24 Jan 1979 | Morarji Desai |
| Charan Singh | 24 Jan 1979 | 16 Jul 1979 | Morarji Desai |
| Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna | 28 Jul 1979 | 19 Oct 1979 | Charan Singh |
| R. Venkataraman | 14 Jan 1980 | 15 Jan 1982 | Indira Gandhi |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 15 Jan 1982 | 31 Oct 1984 | Indira Gandhi |
| 31 Oct 1984 | 31 Dec 1984 | Indira Gandhi | |
| V. P. Singh | 31 Dec 1984 | 14 Jan 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi |
| 14 Jan 1985 | 30 Mar 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| 30 Mar 1985 | 25 Sep 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| 25 Sep 1985 | 24 Jan 1987 | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 24 Jan 1987 | 25 Jul 1987 | Rajiv Gandhi |
| N. D. Tiwari | 25 Jul 1987 | 25 Jun 1988 | Rajiv Gandhi |
| Shankarrao B. Chavan | 25 Jun 1988 | 02 Dec 1989 | Rajiv Gandhi |
| Madhu Dandavate | 05 Dec 1989 | 10 Nov 1990 | V. P. Singh |
| Yashwant Sinha | 21 Nov 1990 | 21 Jun 1991 | Chandra Shekhar |
| Manmohan Singh | 21 Jun 1991 | 16 May 1996 | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| Jaswant Singh | 16 May 1996 | 01 Jun 1996 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| P. Chidambaram | 01 Jun 1996 | 21 Apr 1997 | H. D. Deve Gowda |
| I.K. Gujral | 21 Apr 1997 | 01 May 1997 | I. K. Gujral |
| P. Chidambaram | 01 May 1997 | 19 Mar 1998 | I. K. Gujral |
| Yashwant Sinha | 19 Mar 1998 | 13 Oct 1999 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 13 Oct 1999 | 01 Jul 2002 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| Jaswant Singh | 01 Jul 2002 | 22 May 2004 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| P. Chidambaram | 23 May 2004 | 30 Nov 2008 | Manmohan Singh |
| Manmohan Singh | 30 Nov 2008 | 24 Jan 2009 | Manmohan Singh |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 24 Jan 2009 | 22 May 2009 | Manmohan Singh |
| 23 May 2009 | 26 Jun 2012 | Manmohan Singh | |
| Manmohan Singh | 26 Jun 2012 | 31 Jul 2012 | Manmohan Singh |
| P. Chidambaram | 31 Jul 2012 | 26 May 2014 | Manmohan Singh |
| Arun Jaitley | 26 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | Narendra Modi |
| Nirmala Sitharaman | 31 May 2019 | Incumbent | Narendra Modi |
How is the Indian Finance Minister Selected?
To become the Finance Minister of India , one must be eligible to become a member of Parliament. The Finance Minister can become MP from either house be it Rajya sabha or Lok Sabha. If the selected person is not the member of parliament at the time of appointment, he or she should become the member of either house in 6 months or they have to vacate the office if they fail to do so.
So this was the list of all the finance ministers of India from 1947 till 2024. Till now you must have understood how important the portfolio of the Finance Minister in India is and how lucky we are to get such talented finance ministers.