Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist, politician and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) serving as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India since 2019. She is a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, representing Karnataka since 2016 and previously represented Andhra Pradesh from 2014 to 2016. Sitharaman previously served as the 28th Defence Minister from 2017 to 2019, thereby becoming India's second female defence minister and the second female finance minister after Indira Gandhi, and the first full-time female minister to hold each of those portfolios. She served as junior minister in the Modi ministry between 2014 and 2017, holding successive positions, first for her dual appointment as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs from May to November 2014, and then as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from May 2014 to September 2017, before being elevated to senior posts within the Union Cabinet.
Nirmala Sitharaman | |
|---|---|
Sitharaman in 2023 | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Arun Jaitley |
| Minister of Corporate Affairs | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Arun Jaitley |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 3 September 2017 – 30 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Arun Jaitley |
| Succeeded by | Rajnath Singh |
| Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Commerce and Industry | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 3 September 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Anand Sharma |
| Succeeded by | Suresh Prabhu |
| Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Shripad Naik (Finance) Office established (Corporate Affairs) |
| Succeeded by | Jayant Sinha (Finance) Arjun Ram Meghwal (Corporate Affairs) |
| Member of the Rajya Sabha | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2016 | |
| Preceded by | M. Venkaiah Naidu (BJP) |
| Constituency | Karnataka |
| In office 26 June 2014 – 21 June 2016 | |
| Preceded by | N. Janardhana Reddy (INC) |
| Succeeded by | Suresh Prabhu (BJP) |
| Constituency | Andhra Pradesh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 August 1959 Madurai, Madras State, India (present-day Tamil Nadu) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College (BA) Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA, MPhil) |
Sitharaman featured in the Forbes 2022 list of World's 100 most powerful women and was ranked 36. Fortune named her the most powerful woman in India.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman created history as she presented her sixth consecutive budget on February 1, matching the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.