Nirmala Sitharaman longest serving FM; to present record 9th Budget in a row

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present her ninth consecutive Budget on Sunday, is the longest-serving finance minister to hold the post continuously.

Sitharaman took charge of the Finance Ministry on May 31, 2019, and has steered the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil, making India the fastest-growing major economy in the world.Also read: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting 9 consecutive budgets matter of pride: PM Modi

Sitharaman completed six years and eight months in office on January 31, 2026. On February 1, she will present a record ninth budget in a row.


"Finance Minister Nirmala ji is presenting the budget in Parliament for the ninth consecutive time - the first woman finance minister in the country to do so. This moment is being recorded as a matter of pride in India's parliamentary history," Modi said.

Former prime minister Morarji Desai had presented the Union Budget on 10 occasions, while P Chidambaram presented the Budget nine times, but not for consecutive years.

The other longest-serving Finance Minister at a stretch was C D Deshmukh, who took charge of the Ministry on June 1, 1950, and remained in office for about six years and two months.

Manmohan Singh, known for pushing economic liberalisation, was Finance Minister for about five years between June 21, 1990, and June 16, 1996.

Later as Prime Minister, Singh held the additional charge of Finance portfolio for a brief period once in 2008 and again in 2012.

P Chidambaram served as Finance Minister for about eight years, but in four separate stints.

The others who steered the Ministry for long time, but non-consecutive stints, include Morarji Desai (about 7 years 9 months), Pranab Mukherjee (6 years 4 months), Arun Jaitley (4 years 8 months), Y B Chavan (4 years 3 months) and Yashwant Sinha (4 years 4 months).

The first Finance Minister of Independent India was R K Shanmukham Chetty.

With inputs from PTI