Minister of Defence (India)

The minister of defence (ISO: Rakṣā Maṁtrī) 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 being a high-level minister in the union cabinet. The defence minister additionally serves as president of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and as chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and of the National Defence University.

Minister of Defence
Rakṣā Mantrī
Emblem of India
Flag of India
Incumbent Rajnath Singh since 30 May 2019
Ministry of Defence
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Union Cabinet
Reports to	President of India Prime Minister of India Parliament of India
Appointer	President on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	5 years
Formation	15 August 1947
First holder	Baldev Singh
Deputy	Sanjay Seth Minister of State
Website	mod.gov.in

They are often assisted by a minister of state for defence and less-commonly, the lower-ranked deputy minister of defence.

The first defence minister of independent India was Baldev Singh Chokkar, who served in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–52. Rajnath Singh is the current defence minister of India.

Cabinet ministers

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Baldev Singh (1902–1961) MP for Punjab (Constituent Assembly)	15 August 1947	13 May 1952	4 years, 272 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru I		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar (1882–1953) Rajya Sabha MP for Madras	13 May 1952	10 February 1953 (died in office)	273 days		Nehru II
–			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	10 February 1953	10 January 1955	1 year, 334 days
3			Kailash Nath Katju (1887–1968) MP for Mandsaur	10 January 1955	30 January 1957	2 years, 20 days
–			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	30 January 1957	17 April 1957	77 days
4			V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974) MP for Bombay North	17 April 1957	2 April 1962	5 years, 197 days		Nehru III
				2 April 1962	31 October 1962			Nehru IV
–			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	31 October 1962	14 November 1962	14 days
5			Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Nashik	14 November 1962	27 May 1964	3 years, 364 days
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
				9 June 1964	11 January 1966			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
				11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
				24 January 1966	13 November 1966			Indira I		Indira Gandhi
6			Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur	13 November 1966	13 March 1967	3 years, 226 days
				13 March 1967	27 June 1970			Indira II
7			Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	4 years, 105 days	Indian National Congress (R)
				18 March 1971	10 October 1974			Indira III
(6)			Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur	10 October 1974	1 December 1975	1 year, 52 days
–			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Rae Bareli (Prime Minister)	1 December 1975	20 December 1975	19 days
8			Bansi Lal (1927–2006) Rajya Sabha MP for Punjab	21 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 93 days
(7)			Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram (Deputy Prime Minister from 24 January 1979)	24 March 1977	28 July 1979	2 years, 126 days	Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
9			Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910–2000) MP for Palani	28 July 1979	14 January 1980	170 days	Indian National Congress (Urs)	Charan		Charan Singh
–			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Medak (Prime Minister)	14 January 1980	15 January 1982	2 years, 1 day	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
10			Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009) MP for Chennai South	15 January 1982	2 August 1984	2 years, 200 days
11			Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP for Nanded	2 August 1984	31 October 1984	151 days
				31 October 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
12			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Ramtek	31 December 1984	25 September 1985	268 days		Rajiv II
–			Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP for Amethi (Prime Minister)	25 September 1985	24 January 1987	1 year, 121 days
13			V. P. Singh (1931–2008) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	24 January 1987	12 April 1987	78 days
14			K. C. Pant (1931–2012) MP for New Delhi	12 April 1987	2 December 1989	2 years, 234 days
–			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008) MP for Fatehpur (Prime Minister)	2 December 1989	10 November 1990	343 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
–			Chandra Shekhar (1927–2007) MP for Ballia (Prime Minister)	10 November 1990	21 June 1991	223 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
–			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) Unelected (Prime Minister)	21 June 1991	26 June 1991	5 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
15			Sharad Pawar (born 1940) MP for Baramati	26 June 1991	6 March 1993	1 year, 253 days
–			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister)	6 March 1993	16 May 1996	3 years, 71 days
16			Pramod Mahajan (1949–2006) MP for Mumbai North East	16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
17			Mulayam Singh Yadav (1939–2022) MP for Mainpuri	1 June 1996	21 April 1997	1 year, 290 days	Samajwadi Party	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
				21 April 1997	18 March 1998			Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
18			George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda	19 March 1998	13 October 1999	2 years, 101 days	Samata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
				13 October 1999	16 March 2001			Vajpayee III
19			Jaswant Singh (1938–2020) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan	16 March 2001	21 October 2001	219 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
(18)			George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda	21 October 2001	22 May 2004	2 years, 214 days	Janata Dal (United)
20			Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020) MP for Jangipur	23 May 2004	26 October 2006	2 years, 156 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
21			A. K. Antony (born 1940) Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala	26 October 2006	22 May 2009	7 years, 212 days
				23 May 2009	26 May 2014			Manmohan II
22			Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat	27 May 2014	9 November 2014	166 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
23			Manohar Parrikar (1955–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	9 November 2014	13 March 2017	2 years, 124 days
(22)			Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat	13 March 2017	3 September 2017	174 days
24			Nirmala Sitharaman (born 1959) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka	3 September 2017	30 May 2019	1 year, 269 days
25			Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP for Lucknow	31 May 2019	9 June 2024	5 years, 203 days		Modi II
				10 June 2024	Incumbent			Modi III

Ministers of state

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Mahavir Tyagi (1899–1980) MP for Dehradun Minister of Defence Organisation	16 March 1953	17 April 1957	4 years, 32 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru II		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			Kotha Raghuramaiah (1912–1979) MP for Guntur Minister of Defence Production, since 14 November 1962	16 April 1962	27 May 1964	2 years, 54 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru IV
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
3			Alungal Mathai Thomas (1912–1981) MP for Ernakulam (Defence Production)	13 June 1964	11 January 1966	1 year, 212 days		Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
4			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat	29 October 1965	11 January 1966	74 days
(3)			Alungal Mathai Thomas (1912–1981) MP for Ernakulam (Defence Production)	11 January 1966	24 January 1966	13 days		Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
(4)			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat
(3)			Alungal Mathai Thomas (1912–1981) MP for Ernakulam (Defence Production since 31 January 1966)	24 January 1966	13 March 1967	1 year, 48 days		Indira I		Indira Gandhi
(4)			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat Minister of Defence Supplies, until 13 November 1966
5			Bali Ram Bhagat (1922–2011) MP for Arrah	13 March 1967	14 November 1967	246 days		Indira II
6			Lalit Narayan Mishra (1923–1975) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar (Defence Production)	14 November 1967	27 June 1970	2 years, 225 days
7			Narendrasinghji Mahida MP for Anand	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	264 days	Indian National Congress (R)
8			Prakash Chandra Sethi (1919–1996) MP for Indore (Defence Production)	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	309 days
				18 March 1971	2 May 1971			Indira III
9			Vidya Charan Shukla (1929–2013) MP for Raipur (Defence Production)	2 May 1971	10 October 1974	3 years, 161 days
10			Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan (Defence Production)	10 October 1974	21 December 1975	1 year, 72 days
11			Vitthalrao Gadgil (1928–2001) MP for Pune (Defence Production)	25 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 89 days
12			Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927–2015) MP for Cuttack	23 December 1976	24 March 1977	91 days
13			Sher Singh Kadyan (1917–2009) MP for Rohtak	14 August 1977	28 July 1979	1 year, 348 days	Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
14			Jagbir Singh Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	30 July 1979	14 January 1980	168 days	Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
15			C. P. N. Singh MP for Padrauna	3 March 1980	19 October 1980	230 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
16			Shivraj Patil (born 1935) MP for Latur	19 October 1980	15 January 1982	1 year, 88 days
17			Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo AVSM (born 1941) MP for Dhenkanal	29 January 1983	31 October 1984	1 year, 332 days
				4 November 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
18			Sukh Ram (1927–2022) MP for Mandi (Defence Production and Defence Supplies)	25 September 1985	22 October 1986	1 year, 27 days	Rajiv II
19			Arun Singh (born 1944) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh (Defence Research and Development Organisation)	25 September 1985	18 July 1987	1 year, 296 days
(16)			Shivraj Patil (born 1935) MP for Latur	22 October 1986	25 June 1988	1 year, 247 days
20			Chintamani Panigrahi (1922–2000) MP for Bhubaneswar (Defence Production and Defence Supplies)	25 June 1988	4 July 1989	1 year, 9 days
21			Dumar Lal Baitha (1924–1997) MP for Araria (Defence Production and Supplies)	4 July 1989	2 December 1989	151 days
22			Raja Ramanna (1925–2004) Unelected	20 January 1990	10 November 1990	294 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
23			Lalit Vijay Singh (1931–1998) MP for Begusarai	21 November 1990	21 June 1991	212 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
24			S. Krishna Kumar (born 1939) MP for Quilon	26 June 1991	18 January 1993	1 year, 206 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
25			Mallikarjun Goud (1941–2002) MP for Mahabubnagar	18 January 1993	19 January 1995	2 years, 1 day
26			Suresh Pachouri (born 1952) Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh (Defence Production and Supplies)	15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
27			Mallikarjun Goud (1941–2002) MP for Mahabubnagar (Defence, Defence Research and Development)	30 September 1995	16 May 1996	229 days
28			N. V. N. Somu (1937–1997) MP for Chennai North	6 July 1996	21 April 1997	296 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
				21 April 1997	14 November 1997 (died in office)			Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
29			Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP for Ahmedabad East	13 October 1999	14 November 2000	1 year, 32 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
30			Bachi Singh Rawat (1949–2021) MP for Almora	13 October 1999	22 November 1999	40 days
31			Krishnam Raju (1940–2022) MP for Narasapuram	22 July 2001	1 July 2002	344 days
(29)			Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP for Ahmedabad East (Defence Production and Supplies)	15 October 2001	29 January 2003	1 year, 106 days
32			Chaman Lal Gupta (1934–2021) MP for Udhampur	1 July 2002	22 May 2004	1 year, 326 days
33			O. Rajagopal (born 1929) Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh	29 January 2003	22 May 2004	114 days
34			Bijoy Krishna Handique (1934–2015) MP for Jorhat	23 May 2004	29 January 2006	1 year, 251 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
35			Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Mahendragarh	29 January 2006	22 May 2009	3 years, 113 days
36			M. M. Pallam Raju (born 1962) MP for Kakinada (Defence Production, until 28 May 2009)	29 January 2006	22 May 2009	6 years, 273 days
				28 May 2009	28 October 2012			Manmohan II
37			Jitin Prasada (born 1973) MP for Dhaurahra	28 October 2012	29 October 2012	1 day
38			Lalchand Kataria (born 1968) MP for Jaipur Rural	28 October 2012	31 October 2012	3 days
39			Jitendra Singh (born 1971) MP for Alwar	28 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 180 days
(35)			Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Gurgaon	27 May 2014	5 July 2016	2 years, 39 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
40			Subhash Bhamre (born 1953) MP for Dhule	5 July 2016	30 May 2019	2 years, 329 days
41			Shripad Yesso Naik (born 1952) MP for North Goa	31 May 2019	7 July 2021	2 years, 37 days		Modi II
42			Ajay Bhatt (born 1961) MP for Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar	7 July 2021	9 June 2024	2 years, 338 days
43			Sanjay Seth (born 1959) MP for Ranchi	10 June 2024	Incumbent	193 days		Modi III

Deputy ministers

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Major-General Kumar Shri Himmatsinhji CIE (1897–1973)	14 August 1950	29 February 1952	1 year, 199 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru I		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			Wing Commander Surjit Singh Majithia (1912–1995) MP for Tarn Taran	12 August 1952	17 April 1957	4 years, 248 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru II
3			Satish Chandra (1917–1990) MP for Bareilly (Defence Production, from 14 July 1955)	27 November 1952	17 April 1957	4 years, 141 days
(2)			Wing Commander Surjit Singh Majithia (1912–1995) MP for Tarn Taran	17 April 1957	10 April 1962	4 years, 358 days		Nehru III
4			Kotha Raghuramaiah (1912–1979) MP for Guntur	21 May 1957	10 April 1962	4 years, 324 days
5			Dajisaheb Chavan (1916–1973) MP for Karad	8 May 1962	27 May 1964	2 years, 32 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru IV
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
6			Colonel Datla Satyanarayana Raju MP for Rajahmundry	15 June 1964	24 January 1966	1 year, 223 days	Indian National Congress	Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
7			Shyam Dhar Mishra (1919–2001) MP for Mirzapur	24 January 1966	14 February 1966	21 days		Indira I		Indira Gandhi
8			M. R. Krishna MP for Peddapalli	16 November 1967	27 June 1970	2 years, 223 days	Indian National Congress	Indira II
9			Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927–2015) MP for Cuttack	5 February 1973	23 December 1976	3 years, 322 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira III
10			Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo AVSM (born 1941) MP for Dhenkanal	15 January 1982	29 January 1983	1 year, 14 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi

See also

• Ministry of Defence (India)
• Defence ministers