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Nirmala Sitharaman

About Nirmala Sitharaman

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Who is Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman holds two important portfolios — the finance ministry and the corporate affairs ministry — in the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in its second term at the Centre. She is the first full-time woman finance minister of the country. Earlier, Indira Gandhi had held finance as an additional portfolio for a short duration when she was the prime minister of India. Sitharaman presented this government’s maiden Budget on July 5. Tax relief offered by Piyush Goyal to the salaried class in the Interim Budget was a key thing looked at in her Budget. She made no change to the taxation waiver offered by Goyal those earning up to Rs 5 lakh annually. She, however, increased the surcharge for those with an annual taxable income of over Rs 2 crore.  

Read all about Budget 2019, presented by Sitharaman on July 5
 
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician and a trusted lieutenant of PM Modi's, Sitharaman headed the Union defence ministry during the first stint of the Modi government. Initially, she had been made a Minister of State in 2014 and given the portfolio of commerce & industry with independent charge. 
 
A member of the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
 
Before taking to active politics, Sitharaman worked in the corporate sector after getting a masters degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Subsequently, she moved to London with her husband and joined the British Broadcasting Corporation. She returned to India in the 1990s and became an educationist. Later, she founded the Pranava school in Hyderabad. 
 
She was nominated to the National Commission for Women during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2008 and was made a spokesperson for the party the next year. In 2014, she became a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha as a BJP candidate.
 
During her term as defence minister, Sitharaman had to defend the Narendra Modi government against allegations of corruption by the Opposition in the Rafale aircraft deal signed between India and France. Sitharaman's firefighting, in public and Parliament, were significant since the Opposition had been using alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as a poll plank in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections 2019. Sitharaman was also a member of the committee tasked with preparing the BJP's manifesto for the elections.

 

Latest Updates on Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman will join her Japanese counterpart and a senior French finance ministry official in Washington to announce Sri Lanka's debt restructuring negotiations process, the IMF has announced

Updated On: 12 Apr 2023 | 5:26 PM IST

Budget 2023 LIVE updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the annual Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament today. Follow Business Standard for Budget highlights

Updated On: 05 Apr 2023 | 11:56 AM IST

The impact of Saturday's excise duty cuts will be Rs 1 trillion for a year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said

Updated On: 23 May 2022 | 6:03 AM IST

Decision to cost Rs 1,00,000 cr a year for central government, says Finance Minister after 'criticism/appraisal' of decision.

Updated On: 22 May 2022 | 5:45 PM IST

Despite the tax reduction announced on Saturday, the rates were still high compared to 2014: Palanivel Thiaga Rajan

Updated On: 22 May 2022 | 1:24 PM IST

The import duty on ferronickel, coking coal, PCI coal has been cut from 2.5%, while the duty on coke and semi-coke has been slashed from 5% to 'nil'

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 10:45 PM IST

With this, the government's total fertiliser subsidy is likely to touch a record Rs 2.15 trn in the current 2022-23 fiscal

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 10:08 PM IST

The Congress on Saturday accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "befooling'' people after she announced an excise duty cut on petrol and diesel and said people needed relief

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 9:30 PM IST

'Significant drop in petrol and diesel prices will positively impact various sectors, provide relief to our citizens and further 'Ease of Living',' tweets PM Modi

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 8:29 PM IST

Inflation bites exchequer as move will reduce FY23 revenue by Rs 85,000 cr

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 7:59 PM IST

For its latest iteration, the economics division of the Finance Ministry has tied up with think-tank Institute of Economic Growth (IEG).

Updated On: 22 May 2022 | 5:12 PM IST

Here is a list of all the events at WEF 2022, Davos that will be attended by Indian ministers, CEOs, and corporate honchos

Updated On: 20 May 2022 | 1:43 PM IST

Speaking at the 13th annual day function of the Competition Commission of India, the minister also said that the regulator needs to have a "proactive understanding" of mergers and acquisitions.

Updated On: 21 May 2022 | 1:33 AM IST

Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed confidence that India will continue to achieve a high growth rate in the next financial year as well

Updated On: 19 May 2022 | 10:58 PM IST

With cooperative sugar mills complaining of difficulty in accessing loans from banks due to a plethora of conditions, FM Sitharaman held a high-level meeting with senior officials to iron out glitches

Updated On: 19 May 2022 | 1:37 AM IST

The claim and counterclaim over inflation come at a time when retail inflation rose to an eight-year high in April to 7.8 per cent

Updated On: 17 May 2022 | 1:41 AM IST

Sebi's Wholetime Member Ananta Barua said Sebi is also looking at implementing other measures as announced in the annual budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Updated On: 12 May 2022 | 2:46 PM IST

'We should all take a call so that electricity shortage should not come to anyone, anywhere. Electricity should be there and it should be at a reasonable rate', FM said

Updated On: 11 May 2022 | 12:33 AM IST

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday the country's trade pacts with the UAE and Australia will chart the way for economic growth.

Updated On: 10 May 2022 | 11:40 PM IST

According to her, the country was facing various hurdles on import of edible oils due to the conflict

Updated On: 10 May 2022 | 8:53 PM IST