The Modi government announced the allocation of portfolios to Union ministers on Monday, with several senior BJP leaders retaining their previous responsibilities. Nirmala Sitharaman continues to hold the Finance Ministry, while Amit Shah retains the Ministry of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh remains in charge of the Defence Ministry, S Jaishankar continues as Minister of External Affairs, and Nitin Gadkari retains the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
This marks Sitharaman’s third consecutive term as Finance Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. She was first inducted as the Industry and Commerce Minister in 2014, before being moved to the Defence portfolio in 2017. In 2019, she became the first woman to hold the Finance Ministry for a full term after then-Finance Minister Arun Jaitley fell ill.
Sitharaman is widely recognized for her role in spearheading economic reforms, including the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the reduction of the base corporate tax from 30% to 22%. She is also credited with helping to revive the Indian economy after the demonetization of high-value currency notes.
Sitharaman was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in 1959. She completed her undergraduate studies in economics at Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchirapalli and later pursued a Master’s degree and a Master of Philosophy degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
