1947-49
Sir R.K. Shanmukham Chetty
India's first FM left behind two legacies. A restrictive import policy and the habit of dipping into the railway surplus.

1949-51
John Mathai

1951-57
C.D. Deshmukh

1957-58, 1964-66
T.T. Krishnamachari
TTK authored the stifling Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956.

1958-59
Jawaharlal Nehru

1959-64, 1967-70
Morarji Desai
Desai brought in an element of fiscal consolidation to public finances. He resigned over the nationalisation of banks in 1969.

1966-67
Sachindra Chowdhury
It was during his tenure that the rupee was first devalued by 57.5 per cent.

1970-71
Indira Gandhi
Her first budget set the tone for the populist socialist budgets to follow.

1971-75
Y.B. Chavan
Chavan raised taxes; nationalised insurance companies; and tightened foreign exchange controls (through FERA).

1975-77
C. Subramaniam

1977-78
H.M. Patel

1979-80
Charan Singh
Doubled subsidies to farmers. Inflation rose to 21 per cent.

1980-82
R. Venkataraman
He had to steer the economy out of a major crisis. He negotiated a $5-billion loan from the IMF, slashed the plan outlay, and introduced a measure of tax reforms.

1982-85
Pranab Mukherjee
He laid a lot of emphasis on planning.

1985-87
V.P. Singh
The first reformer. He slashed taxes, liberalised imports, and began to ease industrial licensing.

1987-88
Rajiv Gandhi

1988-89
N.D. Tiwari
Brought back the populist budget.

1989-90
S.B. Chavan

1990-91
Madhu Dandavate

1991-92
Yashwant Sinha (Vote on Account)
Inheriting an economy on the brink of a sovereign debt default, his historic decision to pledge India's gold reserves will always haunt him.

1991-96
Manmohan Singh
Kicked off reforms. Abolished industrial licensing and eased norms for foreign direct investment. His maiden budget rationalised direct taxes and cut both customs and excise duties and attempted to reduce some subsidies (which he was forced to restore). In order to rein in an unmanageable fisc, he also slashed expenditure. But he was forced to go slow on reforms towards the end of the government's term.

1996-98
P. Chidambaram
An ardent liberaliser, his freedom to act was severely hampered by the Left parties in the United Front government. Despite that, he laid the ground for much of the tax rationalisation efforts of later years.

1998-2000
Yashwant Sinha
A socialist to begin with, he's now convinced of the need for reforms. He has carried forward the tax rationalisation efforts, championed privatisation, opened up the insurance sector, and taken hard decisions like cutting subsidies and slashing interest rates on small savings. His single biggest contribution has been steering state governments towards a uniform sales tax regime. But he lacks the political clout to carry forward second generation reforms.