The Minister of Defence or the Defence Minister (ISO: Rakṣhā Mantrī), 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. Rajnath Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the incumbent defence minister, serving since 30 May 2019.
Cabinet Ministers PortraitNameTerm of officePolitical party Ministry Prime Minister Took office Left office Time in office 1 Baldev Singh 15 August1947 13 May1952 Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru 2 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar 13 May1952 10 February1953 Nehru II 3 Jawaharlal Nehru(Prime Minister) 10 February1953 10 January1955 4 Kailash Nath Katju 10 January1955 30 January1957 (3) Jawaharlal Nehru(Prime Minister) 30 January1957 17 April1957 5 V. K. Krishna Menon 17 April1957 2 April1962 Nehru III 2 April1962 31 October1962 Nehru IV (3) Jawaharlal Nehru(Prime Minister) 31 October1962 14 November1962 6 Yashwantrao Chavan 14 November1962 27 May1964 27 May1964 9 June1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda 9 June1964 11 January1966 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri 11 January1966 24 January1966 Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda 24 January1966 13 November1966 Indira I Indira Gandhi 7 Swaran Singh 13 November1966 13 March1967 13 March1967 27 June1970 Indira II 8 Jagjivan Ram 27 June1970 18 March1971 Indian National Congress (R) 18 March1971 10 October1974 Indira III (7) Swaran Singh 10 October1974 1 December1975 9 Indira Gandhi(Prime Minister) 1 December1975 20 December1975 10 Bansi Lal 21 December1975 24 March1977 (8) Jagjivan Ram(Deputy Prime Ministerfrom 24 January 1979) 24 March1977 28 July1979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai 11 Chidambaram Subramaniam 28 July1979 14 January1980 Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Charan Singh (9) Indira Gandhi(Prime Minister) 14 January1980 15 January1982 Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi 12 Ramaswamy Venkataraman 15 January1982 2 August1984 13 Shankarrao Chavan 2 August1984 31 October1984 31 October1984 31 December1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi 14 P. V. Narasimha Rao 31 December1984 25 September1985 Rajiv II 15 Rajiv Gandhi(Prime Minister) 25 September1985 24 January1987 16 V. P. Singh 24 January1987 12 April1987 17 K. C. Pant 12 April1987 2 December1989 (16) Vishwanath Pratap Singh(Prime Minister) 2 December1989 10 November1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh 18 Chandra Shekhar(Prime Minister) 10 November1990 21 June1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar (14) P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 21 June1991 26 June1991 Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao 19 Sharad Pawar 26 June1991 6 March1993 (14) P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 6 March1993 16 May1996 20 Pramod Mahajan 16 May1996 1 June1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee 21 Mulayam Singh Yadav 1 June1996 21 April1997 Samajwadi Party Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda 21 April1997 18 March1998 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral 22 George Fernandes 19 March1998 13 October1999 Samata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee 13 October1999 16 March2001 Vajpayee III 23 Jaswant Singh 16 March2001 21 October2001 Bharatiya Janata Party (22) George Fernandes 21 October2001 22 May2004 Janata Dal (United) 24 Pranab Mukherjee 23 May2004 26 October2006 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh 25 A. K. Antony 26 October2006 22 May2009 23 May2009 26 May2014 Manmohan II 26 Arun Jaitley 26 May2014 9 November2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi 27 Manohar Parrikar 9 November2014 13 March2017 (26) Arun Jaitley 13 March2017 3 September2017 28 Nirmala Sitharaman 3 September2017 30 May2019 29Rajnath Singh 30 May2019 9 June2024 Modi II 9 June2024Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of State PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party Ministry Prime Minister From To Period 1 Mahavir TyagiMinister of Defence Organisation 16 March1953 17 April1957 Indian National Congress Nehru II Jawaharlal Nehru 2 Kotha RaghuramaiahMinister of Defence Production,since 14 November 1962 16 April1962 27 May1964 Indian National Congress Nehru IV 27 May1964 9 June1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda 3 Alungal Mathai Thomas(Defence Production) 13 June1964 11 January1966 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri 4 Jaisukhlal Hathi 29 October1965 11 January1966 (3) Alungal Mathai Thomas(Defence Production) 11 January1966 24 January1966 Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda (4) Jaisukhlal Hathi (3) Alungal Mathai Thomas(Defence Productionsince 31 January 1966) 24 January1966 13 March1967 Indira I Indira Gandhi (4) Jaisukhlal HathiMinister of Defence Supplies,until 13 November 1966 5 Bali Ram Bhagat 13 March1967 14 November1967 Indira II 6 Lalit Narayan Mishra(Defence Production) 14 November1967 27 June1970 7 Narendrasinghji Mahida 27 June1970 18 March1971 Indian National Congress (R) 8 Prakash Chandra Sethi(Defence Production) 27 June1970 18 March1971 18 March1971 2 May1971 Indira III 9 Vidya Charan Shukla(Defence Production) 2 May1971 10 October1974 10 Ram Niwas Mirdha(Defence Production) 10 October1974 21 December1975 11 Vitthalrao Gadgil(Defence Production) 25 December1975 24 March1977 12 Janaki Ballabh Patnaik 23 December1976 24 March1977 13 Sher Singh Kadyan 14 August1977 28 July1979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai 14 Jagbir Singh 30 July1979 14 January1980 Janata Party (Secular) Charan Charan Singh 15 C. P. N. Singh 3 March1980 19 October1980 Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi 16 Shivraj Patil 19 October1980 15 January1982 17 Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo 29 January1983 31 October1984 4 November1984 31 December1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi 18 Sukh Ram(Defence Production and Defence Supplies) 25 September1985 22 October1986 Rajiv II 19 Arun Singh(Defence Research and Development Organisation) 25 September1985 18 July1987 (16) Shivraj Patil 22 October1986 25 June1988 20 Chintamani Panigrahi(Defence Production and Defence Supplies) 25 June1988 4 July1989 21 Dumar Lal Baitha(Defence Production and Supplies) 4 July1989 2 December1989 22 Raja Ramanna 20 January1990 10 November1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh 23 Lalit Vijay Singh 21 November1990 21 June1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar 24 S. Krishna Kumar 26 June1991 18 January1993 Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao 25 Mallikarjun Goud 18 January1993 19 January1995 26 Suresh Pachouri(Defence Production and Supplies) 15 September1995 16 May1996 27 Mallikarjun Goud(Defence,Defence Research and Development) 30 September1995 16 May1996 28 N. V. N. Somu 6 July1996 21 April1997 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda 21 April1997 14 November1997 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral 29 Harin Pathak 13 October1999 14 November2000 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee 30 Bachi Singh Rawat 13 October1999 22 November1999 31 Krishnam Raju 22 July2001 1 July2002 (29) Harin Pathak(Defence Production and Supplies) 15 October2001 29 January2003 32 Chaman Lal Gupta 1 July2002 22 May2004 33 O. Rajagopal 29 January2003 22 May2004 34 Bijoy Krishna Handique 23 May2004 29 January2006 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh 35 Rao Inderjit Singh 29 January2006 22 May2009 36 M. M. Pallam Raju(Defence Production, until 28 May 2009) 29 January2006 22 May2009 28 May2009 28 October2012 Manmohan II 37 Jitin Prasada 28 October2012 29 October2012 38 Lalchand Kataria 28 October2012 31 October2012 39 Jitendra Singh 28 October2012 26 May2014 (35) Rao Inderjit Singh 27 May2014 5 July2016 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi 40 Subhash Bhamre 5 July2016 30 May2019 41 Shripad Yesso Naik 31 May2019 7 July2021 Modi II 42 Ajay Bhatt 7 July2021 9 June2024 43 Sanjay Seth 9 June2024 Incumbent Modi III
Deputy Ministers PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party Ministry Prime Minister From To Period 1 Kumar Shri Himmatsinhji 14 August1950 29 February1952 Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru 2 Surjit Singh Majithia 12 August1952 17 April1957 Indian National Congress Nehru II 3 Satish Chandra(Defence Production,from 14 July 1955) 27 November1952 17 April1957 (2) Surjit Singh Majithia 17 April1957 10 April1962 Nehru III 4 Kotha Raghuramaiah 21 May1957 10 April1962 5 Dajisaheb Chavan 8 May1962 27 May1964 Indian National Congress Nehru IV 27 May1964 9 June1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda 6 Datla Satyanarayana Raju 15 June1964 24 January1966 Indian National Congress Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri 7 Shyam Dhar Mishra 24 January1966 14 February1966 Indira I Indira Gandhi 8 M. R. Krishna 16 November1967 27 June1970 Indian National Congress Indira II 9 Janaki Ballabh Patnaik 5 February1973 23 December1976 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III 10 Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo 15 January1982 29 January1983 Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
List by tenure +List by tenureNo. Defence MinisterParty Longest continuous term Total tenure 1 A K Antony 7 years, 212 days 7 years, 212 days 2 Rajnath Singh 3 Jagjivan Ram 4 years, 105 days 6 years, 231 days
See also
Ministry of Defence (India) Defence ministers
Notes
References