In Pictures- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

RK Shanmukham Chetty was India’s first Finance Minister. He presented independent India's first Budget on November 26, 1947. (Photo Credit: Prasar Bharti/ Twitter)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Pranab Mukherjee became India’s Finance Minister under the prime ministership of Indira Gandhi. He presented the annual budgets for 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85. Mukherjee was the first Rajya Sabha member to hold the Finance portfolio.  (Photo Credit: PTI)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Manmohan Singh was inducted into Narasimha Rao cabinet as Finance Minister in 1991 when nation faced a severe economic crisis. He carried several structural reforms and is credited for liberalising the Indian economy. (Photo Credit: Congress/Twitter)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Palaniappan Chidambaram became Finance Minister in 1997 and presented the Union Budget which came to be known as a dream budget. The budget presented a road map for economic reforms in India and included lowering income tax, removal of the surcharge on corporate taxes. He again headed the finance ministry under UPA-1 and UPA-2 from 2004 to 2014 except for his three-and-a-half-year stint – beginning November 2008 – as Home Minister. (Phioto Credit: PTI)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Yashwant Sinha became India’s Finance Minister in 1990 when Chandra Shekhar was the Prime Minister. He is widely credited for implementing several major reform measures that put the Indian economy on a firm growth trajectory. (Photo Credit: PTI)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

After Modi government stormed to power in 2014, Arun Jaitley became PM Modi's choice to head the Ministry of Finance. Jaitley, a noted lawyer, was considered as BJP’s saviour. With Jaitley at helm of affairs in the Ministry of Finance, the Modi government announced demonetisation and implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST).

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Nirmala Sitharaman is the current Finance Minister of India. She assumed office on May 30th 2019. She is India's first full-time female finance minister. She presented her maiden budget in the Indian parliament on 5 July 2019. (Photo Credit: PTI)

From RK Shanmukham Chetty To Nirmala Sitharaman- Prominent Finance Ministers Who Shaped India's Economy

Indian economy has swelled to 2.6 trillion dollars in 2019 from an approximate USD 30.6 Billion during 1950s. It is likely to surpass Germany to notch one more step in the list of most powerful economies worldwide. The success story of Indian economy required the efforts of as many as 30 Finance Ministers since India secured independence from imperialist British rule in 1947.  With Union Budget 2020 to be tabled in not more than a month, here’s a glimpse at some of the Finance Ministers who shaped the Indian Economy.  (Photo Credit: PTI)