As officials and staff of the Finance Ministry gear up to present Union Budget 2025 on Saturday, February 1, here are India's longest-serving Finance Ministers, including those who never got an opportunity to present the Budget (Pics/ Midday file, X)
Updated On: 2025-01-30 05:40 PM IST
Compiled by : Jyoti Shukla
P Chidambaram
8 years (1996-1998, 2004-2008, 2012-2014)
The ‘dream budget’ in 1997 was hailed for lowering personal income tax rates
Morarji Desai
7 years (1959-1964, 1967-1969)
Also holds the record for the most budgets presented by an individual, which is 10 in total, including two interim budgets
Nirmala Sitharaman
6 years (2019-Present)
Replaced the traditional budget briefcase in 2019 with a 'bahi-khata (ledger)' wrapped in red cloth, signalling a shift towards Indian values
C D Deshmukh
6 years (1951-1957)
Along with managing inflation and food scarcity, Deshmukh also headed the Indianisation of RBI. (Pic/ X @IndiaHistorypic)
Pranab Mukherjee
5 years (1982-1984, 2009-2012)
Introduced stimulus packages to manage global financial crisis in 2008; laid foundation for implementation of GST
Yashwant Sinha
5 years (1990-1991, 1998-2002)
Kept infrastructure development as well as social welfare on focus; credited for initiating tax reforms and laying the foundation for GST framework
Manmohan Singh
5 years (1991-1996)
Architect of Indian economic reforms, mainly the LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation); abolished the infamous License Raj. (Pic/ X @RaghavNC)
KC Neogy (In pic)
Neogy took charge as the second Finance Minister of India in 1948 and held office for just 35 days. He resigned before the Union Budget was presented. (Pic/X @The_Karyakarta)
HN Bahuguna
Bahuguna served as finance minister for five-and-a-half months and hence never received the opportunity to present the Budget. (Pic/ Indian Postage stamp)
Also read: Union Budget 2025: Here's are 21 unique facts about India's budget over the decades
