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.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.Nirmala Sitharaman holds the distinction of being India’s first full-time female Finance Minister, following Indira Gandhi’s interim stint in 1969, and has overseen key structural reforms like public sector bank mergers and GST stabilisation that bolstered the formal economy.Also ReadRoad to Budget 2026: Balancing growth, fiscal discipline, and relief for the middle classAhead of the Budget session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Sitharaman presenting the Union Budget for the ninth consecutive time “will be recorded as a matter of pride in India’s parliamentary history”.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,… Read MoreYourStory RSS Feed
