Finance Ministers of India list from 1946 to 2026 is given below with the full tenure of every leader who has held this post. Nirmala Sitharaman is the current Finance Minister. She has been in office since 31 May 2019 and presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in February 2026.
Ministry of Finance looks after taxation, financial legislation, capital markets, financial institutions and the money matters of both central and state governments. Finance Minister leads this ministry and presents the Union Budget in Parliament every year. This post is one of the most important posts in the Union Cabinet.
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was the first Finance Minister of independent India. He served from 15 August 1947 to 17 August 1948 and presented the first budget of the country. Before independence, Liaquat Ali Khan held the finance portfolio in the interim government from 29 October 1946 to 14 August 1947.
Some names appear more than once in this list because the same leader held the post in different governments. Morarji Desai, T. T. Krishnamachari, Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal are a few such names. Every term is listed with its exact start and end date below, and the details are updated as of 17 September 2026.
Finance Ministers List in India 2026
Key details of the post, the current minister and the longest serving names are given in the table below. It gives you a quick answer before you read the full list.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| List Name | Finance Ministers of India List 1946 to 2026 |
| First Finance Minister (interim government) | Liaquat Ali Khan, 29 October 1946 to 14 August 1947 |
| First Finance Minister of independent India | R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, 15 August 1947 |
| Current Finance Minister | Nirmala Sitharaman, since 31 May 2019 |
| Longest serving Finance Minister | P. Chidambaram, 8 years and 41 days in total |
| Union Budget 2026-27 | Presented by Nirmala Sitharaman in February 2026 |
| Ministry | Ministry of Finance, Government of India |
| Official Portal | Council of Ministers, National Portal of India |
Nirmala Sitharaman holds the finance portfolio in the third Modi ministry. Pankaj Chaudhary is the Minister of State for Finance and assists her in the ministry's day to day work.
Complete Finance Ministers of India List 1946 to 2026
The table below covers every cabinet level Finance Minister from the interim government of 1946 up to the present day, along with the party each minister belonged to.
| Name of Minister | Term of Office | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Liaquat Ali Khan | 29 October 1946 to 14 August 1947 | All India Muslim League |
| R. K. Shanmukham Chetty | 15 August 1947 to 17 August 1948 | Indian National Congress |
| Kshitish Chandra Neogy | 18 August 1948 to 22 September 1948 | Indian National Congress |
| John Matthai | 22 September 1948 to 1 June 1950 | Indian National Congress |
| C. D. Deshmukh | 1 June 1950 to 24 July 1956 | Indian National Congress |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | 24 July 1956 to 30 August 1956 | Indian National Congress |
| T. T. Krishnamachari | 30 August 1956 to 13 February 1958 | Indian National Congress |
| Morarji Desai | 13 February 1958 to 31 August 1963 | Indian National Congress |
| T. T. Krishnamachari | 31 August 1963 to 31 December 1965 | Indian National Congress |
| Sachindra Chaudhuri | 1 January 1966 to 13 March 1967 | Indian National Congress |
| Morarji Desai | 13 March 1967 to 16 July 1969 | Indian National Congress |
| Indira Gandhi | 16 July 1969 to 27 June 1970 | Indian National Congress (R) |
| Yashwantrao Chavan | 27 June 1970 to 10 October 1974 | Indian National Congress (R) |
| Chidambaram Subramaniam | 10 October 1974 to 24 March 1977 | Indian National Congress (R) |
| Morarji Desai | 24 March 1977 to 26 March 1977 | Janata Party |
| Hirubhai M. Patel | 26 March 1977 to 24 January 1979 | Janata Party |
| Charan Singh | 24 January 1979 to 16 July 1979 | Janata Party |
| Morarji Desai | 16 July 1979 to 28 July 1979 | Janata Party |
| Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna | 28 July 1979 to 19 October 1979 | Janata Party (Secular) |
| Charan Singh | 19 October 1979 to 14 January 1980 | Janata Party (Secular) |
| R. Venkataraman | 14 January 1980 to 15 January 1982 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 15 January 1982 to 31 December 1984 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| V. P. Singh | 31 December 1984 to 24 January 1987 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 24 January 1987 to 25 July 1987 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| N. D. Tiwari | 25 July 1987 to 25 June 1988 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| Shankarrao Chavan | 25 June 1988 to 2 December 1989 | Indian National Congress (I) |
| V. P. Singh | 2 December 1989 to 5 December 1989 | Janata Dal |
| Madhu Dandavate | 6 December 1989 to 10 November 1990 | Janata Dal |
| Chandra Shekhar | 10 November 1990 to 21 November 1990 | Samajwadi Janata Party (R) |
| Yashwant Sinha | 21 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party (R) |
| Manmohan Singh | 21 June 1991 to 16 May 1996 | Indian National Congress |
| Jaswant Singh | 16 May 1996 to 1 June 1996 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| P. Chidambaram | 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997 | Tamil Maanila Congress |
| Inder Kumar Gujral | 21 April 1997 to 1 May 1997 | Janata Dal |
| P. Chidambaram | 1 May 1997 to 19 March 1998 | Tamil Maanila Congress |
| Yashwant Sinha | 19 March 1998 to 1 July 2002 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Jaswant Singh | 1 July 2002 to 22 May 2004 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| P. Chidambaram | 23 May 2004 to 30 November 2008 | Indian National Congress |
| Manmohan Singh | 30 November 2008 to 24 January 2009 | Indian National Congress |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 24 January 2009 to 26 June 2012 | Indian National Congress |
| Manmohan Singh | 26 June 2012 to 31 July 2012 | Indian National Congress |
| P. Chidambaram | 31 July 2012 to 26 May 2014 | Indian National Congress |
| Arun Jaitley | 26 May 2014 to 14 May 2018 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Piyush Goyal | 14 May 2018 to 23 August 2018 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Arun Jaitley | 23 August 2018 to 23 January 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Piyush Goyal | 23 January 2019 to 15 February 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Arun Jaitley | 15 February 2019 to 30 May 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Nirmala Sitharaman | 31 May 2019 to present | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Prime Ministers sometimes held the finance portfolio during a short gap, and those days are counted in the table above. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh all took charge of the ministry for short periods. A similar pattern is seen in the list of Prime Ministers of India, where the same leaders handled more than one key portfolio.
Finance Ministers of India with the Longest Tenure
Tenure of a Finance Minister is counted by adding all the terms the person served, including the short ones. A few leaders stayed in this post for years, while some held it only for a few days. Main names with the longest total service are given below.
- P. Chidambaram served 8 years and 41 days in total across four different terms, which makes him the longest serving Finance Minister of India so far.
- Morarji Desai comes next with 7 years and 338 days across five terms, spread over the Congress and Janata Party governments.
- Nirmala Sitharaman has completed 7 years and 109 days and is still in office, so her total keeps growing with every passing month.
- Pranab Mukherjee held the post for 6 years and 137 days in four terms before he became the President of India.
- C. D. Deshmukh served 6 years and 53 days in two terms, and he was also the first Indian to head the Reserve Bank of India.
Finance Ministers Who Later Became President or Prime Minister
R. Venkataraman and Pranab Mukherjee went on to become President of India after handling the finance ministry. Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, V. P. Singh and Manmohan Singh later became Prime Minister. Complete details are available in the Presidents of India list and the Vice Presidents of India list.
Most Union Budgets Presented by a Finance Minister
With the Union Budget 2026-27, Nirmala Sitharaman has now presented more Union Budgets in a row than any other Finance Minister of India. Morarji Desai was the earlier record holder for the most budgets presented in Parliament. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram and Arun Jaitley also presented multiple budgets during their terms.
Ministers of State for Finance
A Minister of State works under the Finance Minister and handles a part of the ministry's work. Recent names in this post are given below.
- Pankaj Chaudhary is the current Minister of State for Finance, in office since 10 June 2024, and he also served in the same post from 7 July 2021 to 9 June 2024.
- Bhagwat Karad was Minister of State for Finance from 7 July 2021 to 9 June 2024, and he looked after banking and insurance related matters.
- Anurag Singh Thakur held the post from 31 May 2019 to 7 July 2021 during the second Modi ministry.
How to Check the Current Finance Minister List Online
STEP 1 - Open the National Portal of India at india.gov.in and look for the Who's Who section on the homepage.
STEP 2 - Click on the Council of Ministers link, then select the Cabinet Ministers tab to see the full list of union cabinet ministers with their portfolios.
STEP 3 - Find the Ministry of Finance row in the list. The name next to it is the current Finance Minister, and the same page also shows the Ministers of State for Finance.
STEP 4 - For budget papers, speeches and notifications, check the Ministry of Finance section of the same portal, since the old ministry website address has changed over the years.
Official Website for Finance Ministry Updates
Latest updates about the Finance Minister, the ministry and the Union Budget are posted on the Council of Ministers page of the National Portal of India. The page is updated by the government whenever there is a change in the council of ministers, so it is the safest place to confirm a name or a portfolio.
This list covers all Finance Ministers of India from 1946 to 2026. Nirmala Sitharaman continues as the Finance Minister, and this page will be updated whenever the government announces a change in the post.