Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist and politician serving as the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and Corporate Affairs of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

since 2019. She is a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, upper house of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

, since 2014. Sitharaman previously served as the

Defence Minister of India The Minister of Defence (''Rakshā Mantrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence Minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as well as be ...

, 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 has served as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

and the Minister for Commerce and Industry with independent charge. Prior to that, she served as a national spokesperson for the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

. Sitharaman featured in the Forbes 2022 list of World's 100 most powerful women and was ranked 36. Fortune ranked Nirmala Sitharaman as the most powerful woman in India.

Early life

Nirmala Sitharaman was born in a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Iyengar Iyengar (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) refers to the name of an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found mos ...

family in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, to Savitri and Narayanan Sitharaman. She had her schooling from Madras and

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

. She obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in economics at the

Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College (SRC) is an autonomous Arts and Science college, located in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu, India. This premier women’s institution affiliated to Bharathidasan University., Tiruchirappalli was conferre ...

, Tiruchirapalli in 1980,

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in economics and

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

from

Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

in 1984. She then enrolled for a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

program in Economics with a focus on Indo-Europe trade; but later left this program and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(when her husband secured a scholarship in

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

) because of which she was unable to complete her degree.

Political career

Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2006 and was appointed as a spokesperson for the party in 2010. In 2014, she was inducted into

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

's cabinet as a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

and in June 2014, she was elected as a Rajya Sabha Member from Andhra Pradesh. In May 2016, she was one of the 12 candidates nominated by the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

to contest the

elections due on 11 June 2016. She successfully contested her seat from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. She has served as the

and headed the Balakot Air Strike carried out by the Indian Air Force in the year 2019. She is currently serving as the

and Corporate affairs of India and has presented 4 annual budgets of India as of the year 2022. India reached the mark of a $3.1 Trillion economy under her leadership.

Union Cabinet Minister

Union Defence Minister

On 3 September 2017, she was appointed as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, being only the second woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the post, but the first full-time female defence minister.

Union Finance Minister

On 31 May 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as the finance and corporate affairs minister. She is India's first full-time female finance minister. She presented her maiden budget in the Indian parliament on 5 July 2019. Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020–21 on 1 February 2020. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...

she was made in-charge of the COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force.

Non-political career

Nirmala Sitharaman worked as a salesperson at Habitat, a home decor store in London's Regent Street. She has served as an assistant to Economist in the

Agricultural Engineers Association Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) is a trade association in the United Kingdom which represents manufacturers and importers of agricultural machinery and outdoor equipment to Government, Parliament, and the media. History The AEA was es ...

in the UK. During her stay in the UK, she has also served as a Senior Manager ( R&D) for

PWC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

and briefly at the BBC World Service. She has also served as a member of

National Commission for Women The National Commission for Women (NCW) is the statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the I ...

. In 2017, she was one of the founding directors of Pranava in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Awards and honors

The Jawaharlal Nehru University conferred her the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019. Forbes Magazine has ranked her 34th among the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2019.

Personal life

Sitharaman met her husband Parakala Prabhakar who is from Narsapuram,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, while studying at the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

. While Nirmala leaned towards the

, her husband was from a Congress family. They married in 1986, and have a daughter. Prabhakar served as a communications advisor to the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

References

External links

Elections.in – Nirmala Sitharaman Biography
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sitharaman, Nirmala 1959 births Living people Politicians from Madurai Tamil politicians Indian Tamil politicians Women in Andhra Pradesh politics PricewaterhouseCoopers people Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Rajya Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh Union ministers of state of India with independent charge Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Andhra Pradesh Narendra Modi ministry 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Women in Karnataka politics Indian women economists 20th-century Indian economists Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka Women union ministers of state of India Women members of the Rajya Sabha Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu Female defence ministers 21st-century Indian economists Women scientists from Tamil Nadu Women members of the Cabinet of India Finance Ministers of India Defence Ministers of India Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Ministers for Corporate Affairs Female finance ministers