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Nirmala Sitharaman
Union Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byArun Jaitley
Union Minister of Corporate Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byArun Jaitley
Union Minister of Defence
In office
3 September 2017 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byArun Jaitley
Succeeded byRajnath Singh
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge)
In office
26 May 2014 – 3 September 2017
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byAnand Sharma
Succeeded bySuresh Prabhu
Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs
In office
26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byShripad Naik (Finance)
Office established (Corporate Affairs)
Succeeded byJayant Sinha (Finance)
Arjun Ram Meghwal (Corporate Affairs)
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2016
Preceded byM. Venkaiah Naidu (BJP)
ConstituencyKarnataka
In office
26 June 2014 – 21 June 2016
Preceded byN. Janardhana Reddy (INC)
Succeeded bySuresh Prabhu (BJP)
Constituency Andhra Pradesh
Personal details
Born (1959-08-18) 18 August 1959 (age 65)
Madurai, Madras State, India (present-day Tamil Nadu)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse
​
(m. 1986)​
Children1
Alma materSeethalakshmi Ramaswami College (BA)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (MA, MPhil)

Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959)[1] 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. [2]

Sitharaman featured in the Forbes 2022 list of World's 100 most powerful women and was ranked 36.[3] In 2023, she was ranked 32nd in the Forbes 2023 list of World's 100 most powerful women.[4] Fortune named her the most powerful woman in India.[5][6]

Early life and education

Nirmala Sitharaman was born in a Tamil Iyengar family[7] in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to Savitri and Narayanan Sitharaman. She had her schooling from Sacred Heart Convent Anglo-Indian School,[8] Villupuram till primary level, and thereafter at Vidyodaya School in Chennai. She then studied at St. Philomena’s School, and at Holy Cross School in Tiruchirappalli.[9] She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College, Tiruchirapalli in 1980, Master of Arts degree in Economics and M.Phil. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi in 1984.[10][11][12] She then enrolled for a Ph.D. program in Economics with a focus on Indo-Europe trade; but later left this program and moved to London (when her husband secured a scholarship in London School of Economics) because of which she was unable to complete her degree.[13]

Political career

Nirmala Sitharaman served as a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003 to 2005.[14]

Nirmala Sitharaman joined BJP in 2008. She was a national spokesperson of the party till 2014. In 2014, she was inducted into Narendra Modi's cabinet as a junior minister and was elected in June of that year as a Rajya Sabha Member from Andhra Pradesh.[15][16][17]

In May 2016, she was one of the 12 candidates nominated by the BJP to contest the Rajya Sabha elections due on 11 June. She successfully contested her seat from Karnataka.[18]

She has served as the Defence Minister of India and headed the Balakot Air Strike carried out by the Indian Air Force in 2019. She is currently serving as the Minister of Finance and Corporate affairs of India and has presented five annual budgets of India (as of 2023).

Union Cabinet Minister

Union Defence Minister

Sitharaman as the Union Minister of Defence in New Delhi, 7 September 2017
Sitharaman pictured during her tenure as Union Minister of Defence, January 2018

On 3 September 2017, she was appointed as Minister of Defence, being only the second woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the post, but the first full-time female defence minister.[19][20]

Under her tenure, the army conducted the Balakot airstrike in retaliation to the 2019 Pulwama attack. The Indian army claimed that the operation had killed at least 170 JEM terrorists.[21][22]

Union Finance Minister

Sitharaman as Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in New Delhi, 31 May 2019

On 31 May 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as the finance and corporate affairs minister.[23] She is India's first full-time female finance minister.[24] She presented her maiden budget in the Indian parliament on 5 July 2019.[25] Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020–21 on 1 February 2020.[26] During the COVID-19 pandemic in India she was made in-charge of the COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force.[27][28]

Under her tenure as the finance minister in 2022, India became the Fifth largest Economy in the world, and the GDP of the country was said to have seen massive growth positively with historical context.[29][30]

In February 2024, she presented the Union budget for the record 6th time and matched it with Morarji Desai. She also became the first minister to present the budget in the New Parliament building of India.[31]

She was given the same cabinet posts after the Indian general election in June 2024.[32][33]

Non-political career

Nirmala Sitharaman worked as a salesperson at Habitat, a home decor store in London's Regent Street.[34] She has served as an assistant to Economist in the Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK. During her stay in the UK, she has also served as a Senior Manager (R&D)[35] for PWC and briefly at the BBC World Service.[16]

She has also served as a member of National Commission for Women.[36] In 2017, she was one of the founding directors of Pranava in Hyderabad.[37][38][39]

Awards and honors

The Jawaharlal Nehru University conferred her the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.[40] Forbes Magazine has ranked her 34th among the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2019.[41] Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister wins the Business Reformer of the year award at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2021. In 2023, ranked at number 32, Sitharaman has made it to the list of Forbes Magazine's 100 most powerful women in the world for the fifth time in a row. In 2022, the minister was ranked at number 36 in the list, while she was in the 37th spot in 2021 and 41st in 2020 respectively.

Personal life

Sitharaman met her husband, economist and commentator Parakala Prabhakar, who is from Narsapuram, Andhra Pradesh, while studying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.[42] While Nirmala leaned towards the BJP, her husband is from a Congress family.[43] They married in 1986, and have a daughter who previously worked for The Hindu and the Mint.[44] Prabhakar served as the communications advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh from 2014 to 2018.[45][35][46]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Deccan Chronicle: BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman gets NJR Rajya Sabha seat". 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman among 6 Indians on Forbes list of world's most powerful women". Hindustan Times. 7 December 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  4. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  5. ^ "India's Most Powerful Business Women in 2021 - Fortune India". www.fortuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. ^ Moulik Jain (2 February 2024). "India's MSME Sector: A New Dawn With Budget 2024'S Transformative Measures". CaptainBiz. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  7. ^ "A power couple whom AP looks up to". Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  8. ^ Rajagopalan, R (2 February 2021). "On post-budget trip, Sitharaman to return to place where she nearly died". The Federal. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  9. ^ Phadnis, Aditi (4 September 2017). "The rise and rise of Nirmala Sitharaman: From spokesperson to defence minister". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  10. ^ Krishnamoorthy, R. (4 September 2017). "Nirmala Sitharaman, the pride of Tiruchi". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  11. ^ Sitharaman, Nirmala (30 May 2016). "Rajya Sabha Affidavits" (PDF). p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman appointed Finance Minister in Modi govt 2.0 as Arun Jaitley retreats". The Financial Express. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  13. ^ Phadnis, Aditi (4 September 2017). "The rise and rise of Nirmala Sitharaman: From spokesperson to defence minister". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman and the Budget: A lady's day out". The Economic Times. 1 February 2020. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Nirmala elected to Rajya Sabha". The Hindu. 27 June 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  16. ^ a b Mohua Chatterjee, TNN (21 March 2010). "BJP gets a JNU product as its woman spokesperson". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  17. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman Wins Rajya Sabha Seat From Karnataka, Congress Gets 3". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Naidu, Naqvi, Goyal among 12 in BJP's RS list". ABP Live. 29 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman Joins Cabinet: GST and Start-Up Success Pays Dividend". News18. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  20. ^ "Modi Cabinet reshuffle: Full list of new council of ministers", The Times of India, 3 September 2017, archived from the original on 4 September 2017, retrieved 3 September 2017
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  22. ^ "As many as 170 JeM terrorists killed in Balakot airstrike: Italian journalist". India Today. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  23. ^ "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers", Live Mint, 31 May 2019, archived from the original on 2 June 2019, retrieved 2 June 2019
  24. ^ "Narendra Modi Cabinet: Amit Shah gets Home and Nirmala Sitharaman is India's first full-time woman Finance Minister". The Hindu. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Key Highlights of Union Budget 2019–20". PIB. 5 July 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  26. ^ "Summary of Union Budget 2020-21". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Coronavirus in India: Economic task force yet to be formed; no decision on relief package". Business Today. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Covid 19 Economic Task Force: Government forms Covid-19 economic response task force, says PM Modi". The Times of India. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  29. ^ "This chart shows the growth of India's economy". World Economic Forum. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  30. ^ "All promises made in 2014, 2019 enforced: Nirmala Sitharaman on nine years of NDA". The Indian Express. 29 May 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  31. ^ "Interim Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman Set To Match Morarji Desai's Record". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  32. ^ "Press Communique". Rashtrapati Bhavan. 10 June 2024. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Modi 3.0: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar — 10 ministers retain Cabinet berths". Indian Express. 9 June 2024. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  34. ^ Phadnis, Aditi (4 September 2017). "The rise and rise of Nirmala Sitharaman: From spokesperson to defence minister". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  35. ^ a b "In Nirmala Sitharaman, India Gets Its Second Woman Defence Minister After Indira Gandhi". Huffington Post India. 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  36. ^ "Who is Nirmala Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Defence Minister". Financial Express. 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  37. ^ "Management | Pranava". Pranavatheschool.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  38. ^ "National Leadership from Andhra Pradesh – Official BJP site of Andhra Pradesh Nirmala sitharaman's address and contact information". Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  39. ^ "Official BJP National website". Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  40. ^ Staff Reporter (12 June 2019). "Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaishankar to get JNU's Distinguished Alumni Award". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  41. ^ "Nirmala Sitharaman". Forbes. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  42. ^ "Meet the Union Finance Minister/DEPARTMENT OF Expenditure | MoF |GoI". doe.gov.in. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  43. ^ "BJP spokesperson finds her new role challenging". The Hindu. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  44. ^ "Vangmayi Parakala - JLF Colorado". Jaipur Literature Festival, Colorado. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  45. ^ "AP govt advisor and Nirmala Sitharaman's husband Parakala Prabhakar quits, blames Jagan". 19 June 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  46. ^ "12 Unknown Facts About Nirmala Sitharaman: The Sales Girl Bit Will Surprise You". The Hans India. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Commerce and Industry
2014–2017
As Minister of State (Independent Charge) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Defence
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Minister of Finance
31 May 2019 – present 		Incumbent
Minister of Corporate Affairs
31 May 2019 – present
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