page_title: Pranab Mukherjee
section_title: Finance Minister
hierarchical_section_title: Pranab Mukherjee / Government offices / Finance Minister
caption_attribution_description: English: Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee in the Plenary Session Post-Crisis Economic Order: How Can Free Market and control be Balanced? Participants captured during the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2009 held in New Delhi, 8-10 November 2009.
context_page_description: Pranab Mukherjee is an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee has been a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to his election as President, Mukherjee was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019 by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
  Mukherjee got his break in politics in 1969 when the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped him get elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament of India, on a Congress ticket. Following a meteoric rise, he became one of Gandhi's most trusted lieutenants and a minister in her cabinet in 1973. During the controversial Internal Emergency of 1975–77, he was accused of committing gross excesses. Mukherjee's service in a number of ministerial capacities culminated in his first stint as Finance Minister of India in 1982–84. He was also the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1985.
  Mukherjee was sidelined from the Congress during the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi.
context_section_description: Pranab Mukherjee's first stint as the Finance minister of India was during the Indira Gandhi government in 1982. He presented his first annual budget in 1982–83. Mukherjee's first term was noted for his work in improving the finances of the government and for successfully returning the last instalment of India's first IMF loan. Mukherjee signed the letter appointing Manmohan Singh as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1982. Mukherjee was accused of patronage practices in the Ambani–Wadia industrial feuds.
  Mukherjee was credited with being an early reformer of the Indian economy. India Today wrote: "Operation Forward, which [Mukherjee] and then Industries Minister Charanjit Chanana launched in the early 1980s, started the liberalisation process that flowered under Rao and Manmohan Singh." A Left wing magazine once commented that "socialism did not grow out of the pipe Mukherjee smoked."
  Mukherjee was removed from his position as Finance Minister by Rajiv Gandhi in 1984. Gandhi had wished to bring in his own team of staff to govern India. Mukherjee was removed from his position even though he was rated as the best Finance Minister in the World that year according to a survey of Euromoney magazine.
  Mukherjee returned to handling the finance of India during the premiership of Narasimha Rao. He was appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. Since the Prime Minister of India happens to be the ex-officio chairperson of Planning Commission of India, the position of the deputy chairperson has great significance. During Mukherjee's tenure 1991–96, Dr. Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister oversaw many economic reforms to end the Licence Raj system and help open the Indian economy.
  Mukherjee again became the Finance Minister of India in 2009. He presented the annual budgets in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The 2010–11 budget included the country's first explicit target to cut public debt as a proportion of GDP and Mukherjee had targeted a budget deficit reduction to 4.1% of GDP in fiscal year 2012–13, from 6.5% in 2008–09.
  Mukherjee implemented many tax reforms. He scrapped the Fringe Benefits Tax and the Commodities Transaction Tax. He implemented the Goods and Services Tax during his tenure. These reforms were well received by major corporate executives and economists. The introduction of retrospective taxation by Mukherjee, however, has been criticised by some economists.
  Mukherjee expanded funding for several social sector schemes including the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. He also supported budget increases for improving literacy and health care. He expanded infrastructure programmes such as the National Highway Development Programme. Electricity coverage was also expanded during his tenure. Mukherjee also reaffirmed his commitment to the principle of fiscal prudence as some economists expressed concern about the rising fiscal defits during his tenure, the highest since 1991. Mukherjee declared the expansion in government spending was only temporary.
  In 2010 Mukherjee was awarded "Finance Minister of the Year for Asia" by Emerging Markets, the daily newspaper of record for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mukherjee was praised for "the confidence [he] has inspired in key stakeholders, by virtue of his fuel price reforms, fiscal transparency and inclusive growth strategies." The Banker also recognised him as "Finance Minister of the Year."
  The final years of Mukherjee in the finance ministry were not considered a success. The NDTV upon his resignation as Finance Minister in June 2012 wrote: "There [had] been a clamour from many quarters for a change in the Finance Ministry, with Mr Mukherjee having faced flak for several decisions where politics seemed to overwhelm economic imperatives."
caption: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the World Economic Summit 2009 in New Delhi
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