List of Defence Ministers of India from 1947 to 2025

Explore the comprehensive list of Defence Ministers of India from 1947 to 2025, detailing their terms and contributions to national defence.

Defence Minister of India: The Defence Minister is a critical role in the Union Council of Ministers and is a high-level minister in the cabinet. This office holder serves as the President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and as Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and the National Defence University.

The Ministry of Defence sets the guidelines and provisions necessary for the Armed Forces to fulfill their duties regarding national defence. The Ministry is led by the Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) and includes several key departments:

  • Department of Defence (DOD)
  • Department of Defence Production (DDP)
  • Department of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D)
  • Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare
  • Finance Division

List of Defence Ministers of India

The Minister of Defence is the leader of the Ministry of Defence and a senior minister in the Government of India. Below is the list of Defence Ministers of India from 1947 to 2025.

S.NoName of Defence MinisterFrom DateTo Date
1Baldev Singh15 August 194713 May 1952
2N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar13 May 195210 February 1953
3Jawaharlal Nehru10 February 195310 January 1955
4Kailash Nath Katju10 January 195530 January 1957
5Jawaharlal Nehru30 January 195717 April 1957
6V.K. Krishna Menon17 April 195731 October 1962
7Jawaharlal Nehru31 October 196214 November 1962
8Yashwantrao Chavan14 November 196213 November 1966
9Swaran Singh13 November 196627 June 1970
10Jagjivan Ram27 June 197010 October 1974
11Swaran Singh10 October 19741 December 1975
12Indira Gandhi1 December 197520 December 1975
13Bansi Lal21 December 197524 March 1977
14Jagjivan Ram24 March 197728 July 1979
15Chidambaram Subramaniam28 July 197914 January 1980
16Indira Gandhi14 January 198015 January 1982
17Ramaswamy Venkataraman15 January 19822 August 1984
18Shankarrao Chavan2 August 198431 December 1984
19P.V. Narasimha Rao1 January 198525 September 1985
20Rajiv Gandhi25 September 198524 January 1987
21Vishwanath Pratap Singh24 January 198712 April 1987
22K.C. Pant13 April 19871 December 1989
23Vishwanath Pratap Singh2 December 198910 November 1990
24Chandra Shekhar10 November 199021 June 1991
25P.V. Narasimha Rao21 June 199126 June 1991
26Sharad Pawar26 June 19916 March 1993
27P.V. Narasimha Rao6 March 199316 May 1996
28Pramod Mahajan16 May 19961 June 1996
29Mulayam Singh Yadav1 June 199619 March 1998
30George Fernandes19 March 199816 March 2001
31Jaswant Singh16 March 200121 October 2001
32George Fernandes21 October 200122 May 2004
33Pranab Mukherjee22 May 200426 October 2006
34A.K. Antony26 October 200626 May 2014
35Arun Jaitley26 May 20149 November 2014
36Manohar Parrikar9 November 201413 March 2017
37Arun Jaitley13 March 20173 September 2017
38Nirmala Sitharaman3 September 201730 May 2019
39Rajnath Singh30 May 2019Present
List of Defence Ministers of India

For more details about the Defence Minister of India, including contact numbers and email addresses, visit the official Ministry of Defence website: Ministry of Defence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the 1st Woman Defence Minister of India?

Indira Gandhi held the Defence Minister post for 20 days from 1 December 1975 to 20 December 1975.

Who is the first full-time female Defence Minister of India?

Nirmala Sitharaman is the first full-time female Defence Minister of India, serving from 3 September 2017 to 30 May 2019.

Who is the first Defence Minister of Independent India?

Baldev Singh Chokkar is the first Defence Minister of Independent India, taking office on 15 August 1947.

Who is the current Defence Minister of India?

Rajnath Singh is the current Defence Minister of India since 30 May 2019.

Read more: Prime Ministers of India List From 1947 to 2025