Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs

Nirmala Sitharaman has been allocated the key Finance Ministry.

New Delhi: Nirmala Sitharaman has taken charge as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs on Friday. In Modi 2.0 Government, Nirmala Sitharaman has been allocated the key Finance Ministry. With this, she has become the first woman to head the Ministry on a full-time basis.

Previously, on 16 July 1969, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi oversaw the Ministry after Morarji Desai resigned as the Minister of Finance.

While Indira Gandhi presented the Union Budget for 1970-71, Nirmala Sitharaman to present the General Budget for the FY 2019-20 in coming July.

The Interim Budget was presented by Piyush Goyal on 1 February in view of general elections to the 17th Lok Sabha.

Besides, the Finance Ministry, Sitharaman would also handle the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Interestingly, in September 2017, Nirmala Sitharaman became the first full-time woman Defence Minister and the second woman to handle the Ministry.

As a coincidence, Indira Gandhi became the first woman to head the Defence Ministry 1975.