The Finance Secretary (ISO: Vitta Saciv) is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India.

Under Section 22, of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Finance Secretary signs the 1-rupee note.

As a Secretary to Government of India, the Finance Secretary ranks 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.

Powers, responsibilities and postings

Finance Secretary is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance, and is the principal adviser to the Finance Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the Finance Ministry. The senior most Secretary among the five Secretaries of the five Departments of the Ministry of Finance, viz. Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Financial Services, Revenue and Investment & Public Assets Management of Ministry of Finance, is designated as Finance Secretary.

The role of Finance Secretary is as follows:

  • To act as the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.
  • To act as the chief adviser to the Finance Minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs. to Chief Secretaries of State Governments and to Vice Chief of Army Staff/Commanders, in the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces.

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List of former finance secretaries

{|class="wikitable"

! # !! Name !! Period !! Notes / Ref(s)

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!1

| K.R.K Menon|| 1947 – 1954 ||

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| 2 || K. G. Ambegaonkar|| 1954 – 1955 || Later served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1957.

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| 3 || Hirubhai M. Patel|| 1955 – 1958 ||

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| 4 || A. K. Roy || 1958 – 1960 ||

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| 5 || S. Bhoothalingam|| 1960 – 1964 ||

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| 6 || Lakshmi Kant Jha|| 1964 – 1966 || Later served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1967 to 1970

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| 7 || Sarukkai Jagannathan|| 1967 – 1968 || Later served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1970 to 1975

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| 8 || B D Pande || 1969 – 1972 || Later served as the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India from 1972 to 1977 and as Governor of Punjab from 1983 to 1984.

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| 9 || M.R. Yardi|| 1972 – 1974 ||

-

|-

|10

|N. C. Sen Gupta

|1975

|Later served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from May to August, 1975

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| 11||Montek Singh Ahluwalia|| 1993 – 1998 ||A Key Figure In India’s Economic Reforms From The Early 1980s Onwards, He Has Held Several Important Positions Including Special Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (1988–90); Commerce Secretary (1990–91); Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (1991–93). Later Served As The Deputy Chairman Of The Planning Commission, Government Of India From 2004 to 2014.

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| 12||Vijay Laxman Kelkar||1998 – 1999 ||Renowned Indian Economist And Academic

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| 13||Ashok Lavasa||2016 – 2017 ||Later EC, Election Commission of India and then VP, Asian Development Bank

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| 14||Hasmukh Adhia||2017 – 2018 ||Later Chairman, Bank of Baroda

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| 15||Ajay Narayan Jha|| 2018 – February 2019 ||Later Member, Fifteenth Finance Commission, Sixteenth Finance Commission

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| 16||Subhash Chandra Garg||March 2019 – July 2019 ||Served as Secretary (EA) from 2017 and designated Finance Secretary in March 2019.

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| 17||Rajiv Kumar|| August 2019 – 29 February 2020 ||Later served as Election Commissioner and then Chief Election Commissioner of India

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| 18||Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey|| to ||Later Chairman National Financial Reporting Authority

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| 19||Dr. T. V. Somanathan || to ||Later Cabinet Secretary of India

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|20

|Tuhin Kanta Pandey

| to

|Later Chairman Securities and Exchange Board of India

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|21

|Ajay Seth

|March 24, 2025 - June 30, 2025

|Later Chairman Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

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See also

  • Cabinet Secretary of India
  • Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing
  • Home Secretary of India
  • Foreign Secretary of India
  • Defence Secretary of India

References

  • Finance Ministry, Official website