Minister of Defence (India)

Minister of Defence
Minister of Defence
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	Emblem of the Ministry of Defence
	Incumbent; Rajnath Singh; since 30 May 2019
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Union Council of Ministers
Reports to	President of India; Prime Minister of India; Parliament of India
Residence	17, Akbar Road, New Delhi
Seat	Room No. 104, South Block, New Delhi
Appointer	President of India; on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	5 years
Constituting instrument	Constitution of India
Formation	15 August 1947
First holder	Baldev Singh
Deputy	Sanjay Seth, MoS
Salary	₹124,000 (US$1,700) monthly<
Website	mod.gov.in

The Minister of Defence or the Defence Minister (ISO: Rakṣhā Mantrī),^[2] is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high-ranking minister in the Union Council of Ministers of the Government of India. The defence minister additionally serves as president of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and as the chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and the National Defence University. The minister is usually a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, and the National Security Council. The defence minister is assisted by a minister of state and, less commonly by a deputy minister.

The first defence minister of independent India was Baldev Singh of the Indian National Congress, who served in the First Nehru ministry from 1947 to 1952. A. K. Antony of the Congress has had the longest tenure, serving for seven years and 212 days from 26 October 2006 till 26 May 2014.^[3] Rajnath Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the incumbent defence minister, serving since 30 May 2019.

Cabinet Ministers[edit | edit source]

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
No.	Portrait	Name (born–died) Constituency	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
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
3		Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	10 February 1953	10 January 1955	1 year, 334 days
4		Kailash Nath Katju (1887–1968) MP for Mandsaur	10 January 1955	30 January 1957	2 years, 20 days
(3)		Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	30 January 1957	17 April 1957	77 days
5		V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974) MP for Bombay North	17 April 1957	2 April 1962	5 years, 197 days		Nehru III
5		V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974) MP for Bombay North	2 April 1962	31 October 1962	5 years, 197 days		Nehru IV
(3)		Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister)	31 October 1962	14 November 1962	14 days
6		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
7		Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur	13 November 1966	13 March 1967	3 years, 226 days		Indira I
7		Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur	13 March 1967	27 June 1970	3 years, 226 days		Indira II
8		Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	4 years, 105 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira II
8		Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram	18 March 1971	10 October 1974	4 years, 105 days		Indira III
(7)		Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur	10 October 1974	1 December 1975	1 year, 52 days
9		Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Rae Bareli (Prime Minister)	1 December 1975	20 December 1975	19 days
10		Bansi Lal (1927–2006) Rajya Sabha MP for Punjab	21 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 93 days
(8)		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
11		Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910–2000) MP for Palani	28 July 1979	14 January 1980	170 days	Indian National Congress (Urs)	Charan		Charan Singh
(9)		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
12		Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009) MP for Chennai South	15 January 1982	2 August 1984	2 years, 200 days
13		Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP for Nanded	2 August 1984	31 October 1984	151 days
13		Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP for Nanded	31 October 1984	31 December 1984	151 days		Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
14		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Ramtek	31 December 1984	25 September 1985	268 days		Rajiv II
15		Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP for Amethi (Prime Minister)	25 September 1985	24 January 1987	1 year, 121 days
16		V. P. Singh (1931–2008) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	24 January 1987	12 April 1987	78 days
17		K. C. Pant (1931–2012) MP for New Delhi	12 April 1987	2 December 1989	2 years, 234 days
(16)		Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008) MP for Fatehpur (Prime Minister)	2 December 1989	10 November 1990	343 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
18		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
(14)		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
19		Sharad Pawar (born 1940) MP for Baramati	26 June 1991	6 March 1993	1 year, 253 days
(14)		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister)	6 March 1993	16 May 1996	3 years, 71 days
20		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
21		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		Mulayam Singh Yadav (1939–2022) MP for Mainpuri	21 April 1997	18 March 1998	1 year, 290 days	Samajwadi Party	Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
22		George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda	19 March 1998	13 October 1999	2 years, 101 days	Samata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
22		George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda	13 October 1999	16 March 2001	2 years, 101 days	Samata Party	Vajpayee III
23		Jaswant Singh (1938–2020) Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan	16 March 2001	21 October 2001	219 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
(22)		George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda	21 October 2001	22 May 2004	2 years, 214 days	Janata Dal (United)
24		Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020) MP for Jangipur	23 May 2004^[4]	26 October 2006	2 years, 156 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
25		A. K. Antony (born 1940) Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala	26 October 2006	22 May 2009	7 years, 212 days		Manmohan I
25		A. K. Antony (born 1940) Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala	23 May 2009	26 May 2014	7 years, 212 days		Manmohan II
26		Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat	26 May 2014^[5]	9 November 2014	166 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
27		Manohar Parrikar (1955–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	9 November 2014^[6]	13 March 2017	2 years, 124 days
(26)		Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat	13 March 2017^[7]	3 September 2017	174 days
28		Nirmala Sitharaman (born 1959) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka	3 September 2017^[8]^[9]	30 May 2019	1 year, 269 days
29		Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP for Lucknow	30 May 2019^[10]	9 June 2024	7 years, 98 days		Modi II
29		Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP for Lucknow	9 June 2024^[11]	Incumbent	7 years, 98 days		Modi III

Ministers of State[edit | edit source]

No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
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
2			27 May 1964	9 June 1964	2 years, 54 days		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		Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
(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	11 January 1966	24 January 1966	13 days		Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
(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	24 January 1966	13 March 1967	1 year, 48 days		Indira I
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
8			18 March 1971	2 May 1971	309 days		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
17			4 November 1984	31 December 1984	1 year, 332 days		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
28		N. V. N. Somu (1937–1997) MP for Chennai North	21 April 1997	14 November 1997 (died in office)	296 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	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
36			28 May 2009	28 October 2012	6 years, 273 days		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		Modi I
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		Modi II
43		Sanjay Seth (born 1959) MP for Ranchi	10 June 2024	Incumbent	2 years, 88 days		Modi III

Deputy Ministers[edit | edit source]

No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
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		Nehru II
(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		Nehru III

5		Dajisaheb Chavan (1916–1973) MP for Karad	8 May 1962	27 May 1964	2 years, 32 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru IV
5		Dajisaheb Chavan (1916–1973) MP for Karad	27 May 1964	9 June 1964	2 years, 32 days	Indian National Congress	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	Indian National Congress	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

List by tenure[edit | edit source]

List by tenure^[3]
No.	Defence Minister		Longest continuous term	Total tenure
1	A K Antony	INC	7 years, 212 days	7 years, 212 days
2	Rajnath Singh	BJP	7 years, 99 days	7 years, 99 days
3	Jagjivan Ram	INC	4 years, 105 days	6 years, 231 days

Notes[edit | edit source]

↑ Minister of Defence gets the same salary as a Member of Parliament in India. In addition to the basic pay, there is a constituency allowance of ₹87,000, office allowance of ₹75,000 per month, and other emoluments.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "Notification by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs" (PDF). Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
↑ "Who's who". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Defence Ministers of India". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Pranab Mukherjee takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 24 October 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Arun Jaitley takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 14 March 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Manohar Parrikar takes charge as Defence Minister". Business Standard. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Jaitley takes charge as Defence Minister". The Hindu. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Nirmala Sitharaman takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 7 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as Defence Minister". The Hindustan Times. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Rajnath Singh to be the new Defence Minister of India". The Economic Times. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
↑ "Rajnath Singh assumes charge as Minister of Defence (Raksha Mantri) for the second consecutive term". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[1] Minister of Defence gets the same salary as a Member of Parliament in India. In addition to the basic pay, there is a constituency allowance of ₹87,000, office allowance of ₹75,000 per month, and other emoluments.

[2] "Notification by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs" (PDF). Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved 25 August 2025.

[3] "Who's who". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 1 January 2026.

[MoD-4] 3.0 ^3.1 "Defence Ministers of India". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[5] "Pranab Mukherjee takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 24 October 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[6] "Arun Jaitley takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 14 March 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[7] "Manohar Parrikar takes charge as Defence Minister". Business Standard. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[8] "Jaitley takes charge as Defence Minister". The Hindu. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[9] "Nirmala Sitharaman takes over as Defence Minister". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 7 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[10] "Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as Defence Minister". The Hindustan Times. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[11] "Rajnath Singh to be the new Defence Minister of India". The Economic Times. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

[12] "Rajnath Singh assumes charge as Minister of Defence (Raksha Mantri) for the second consecutive term". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

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