Minister of Defence
Rmkmmakṣā Maṁtrī
Emblem of India
Incumbent Rajnath Singh since 30 May 2019
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Union Cabinet
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 on the advice of thePrime Minister
Term length	5 years
Formation	15 August 1947
First holder	Baldev Singh
Deputy	Sanjay Seth Minister of State
Website	mod.gov.in

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Theminister of defence (ISO:Rakṣā Maṁtrī) is the head of theMinistry of Defence and a high ranking minister of theGovernment of India. The defence minister is one of the most senior portfolios in theUnion Cabinet as well as being a high-level minister in the union cabinet.

The defence minister additionally serves as president of theInstitute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and as chancellor of theDefence Institute of Advanced Technology and of theNational Defence University. The individual is usually a member ofCabinet Committee on Security.

The first defence minister of independentIndia wasBaldev Singh Chokkar, who served in Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–52.A. K. Antony is the longest serving defence minister inhistory from 26 October 2006 till 26 May 2014.Rajnath Singh is the current defence minister serving from 30 May 2019 till date.

No.[1]	Portrait		Name (born–died) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1			Baldev Singh[2] (1902–1961) MP forPunjab (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 forMadras	13 May 1952	10 February 1953 (died in office)	273 days		Nehru II
3			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP forPhulpur (Prime Minister)	10 February 1953	10 January 1955	1 year, 334 days
4			Kailash Nath Katju (1887–1968) MP forMandsaur	10 January 1955	30 January 1957	2 years, 20 days
(3)			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP forPhulpur (Prime Minister)	30 January 1957	17 April 1957	77 days
5			V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974) MP forBombay North	17 April 1957	2 April 1962	5 years, 197 days		Nehru III
				2 April 1962	31 October 1962			Nehru IV
(3)			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP forPhulpur (Prime Minister)	31 October 1962	14 November 1962	14 days
6			Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP forNashik	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 forJullundur	13 November 1966	13 March 1967	3 years, 226 days
				13 March 1967	27 June 1970			Indira II
8			Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP forSasaram	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	4 years, 105 days	Indian National Congress (R)
				18 March 1971	10 October 1974			Indira III
(7)			Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP forJullundur	10 October 1974	1 December 1975	1 year, 52 days
9			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP forRae Bareli (Prime Minister)	1 December 1975	20 December 1975	19 days
10			Bansi Lal (1927–2006) Rajya Sabha MP forPunjab	21 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 93 days
(8)			Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP forSasaram (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 forPalani	28 July 1979	14 January 1980	170 days	Indian National Congress (Urs)	Charan		Charan Singh
(9)			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP forMedak (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 forChennai South	15 January 1982	2 August 1984	2 years, 200 days
13			Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP forNanded	2 August 1984	31 October 1984	151 days
				31 October 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
14			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP forRamtek	31 December 1984	25 September 1985	268 days		Rajiv II
15			Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP forAmethi (Prime Minister)	25 September 1985	24 January 1987	1 year, 121 days
16			V. P. Singh (1931–2008) Rajya Sabha MP forUttar Pradesh	24 January 1987	12 April 1987	78 days
17			K. C. Pant (1931–2012) MP forNew Delhi	12 April 1987	2 December 1989	2 years, 234 days
(16)			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008) MP forFatehpur (Prime Minister)	2 December 1989	10 November 1990	343 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
18			Chandra Shekhar (1927–2007) MP forBallia (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 forBaramati	26 June 1991	6 March 1993	1 year, 253 days
(14)			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP forNandyal (Prime Minister)	6 March 1993	16 May 1996	3 years, 71 days
20			Pramod Mahajan (1949–2006) MP forMumbai 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 forMainpuri	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
22			George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP forNalanda	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
23			Jaswant Singh (1938–2020) Rajya Sabha MP forRajasthan	16 March 2001	21 October 2001	219 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
(22)			George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP forNalanda	21 October 2001	22 May 2004	2 years, 214 days	Janata Dal (United)
24			Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020) MP forJangipur	23 May 2004[3]	26 October 2006	2 years, 156 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
25			A. K. Antony (born 1940) Rajya Sabha MP forKerala	26 October 2006	22 May 2009	7 years, 212 days
				23 May 2009	26 May 2014			Manmohan II
26			Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP forGujarat	26 May 2014[4]	9 November 2014	166 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
27			Manohar Parrikar (1955–2019) Rajya Sabha MP forUttar Pradesh	9 November 2014[5]	13 March 2017	2 years, 124 days
(26)			Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) Rajya Sabha MP forGujarat	13 March 2017[6]	3 September 2017	174 days
28			Nirmala Sitharaman (born 1959) Rajya Sabha MP forKarnataka	3 September 2017[7][8]	30 May 2019	1 year, 269 days
29			Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP forLucknow	30 May 2019[9]	9 June 2024	6 years, 175 days		Modi II
				9 June 2024[10]	Incumbent			Modi III

The defence minister of India (Union minister of defence) is assisted by aminister of state for defence and less-commonly, the lower-rankeddeputy minister of defence.

No.[11]	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Mahavir Tyagi (1899–1980) MP forDehradun 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 forGuntur 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 forErnakulam (Defence Production)	13 June 1964	11 January 1966	1 year, 212 days		Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
4			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) Rajya Sabha MP forGujarat	29 October 1965	11 January 1966	74 days
(3)			Alungal Mathai Thomas (1912–1981) MP forErnakulam (Defence Production)	11 January 1966	24 January 1966	13 days		Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
(4)			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) Rajya Sabha MP forGujarat
(3)			Alungal Mathai Thomas (1912–1981) MP forErnakulam (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 forGujarat Minister of Defence Supplies, until 13 November 1966
5			Bali Ram Bhagat (1922–2011) MP forArrah	13 March 1967	14 November 1967	246 days		Indira II
6			Lalit Narayan Mishra (1923–1975) Rajya Sabha MP forBihar (Defence Production)	14 November 1967	27 June 1970	2 years, 225 days
7			Narendrasinghji Mahida MP forAnand	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	264 days	Indian National Congress (R)
8			Prakash Chandra Sethi (1919–1996) MP forIndore (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 forRaipur (Defence Production)	2 May 1971	10 October 1974	3 years, 161 days
10			Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) Rajya Sabha MP forRajasthan (Defence Production)	10 October 1974	21 December 1975	1 year, 72 days
11			Vitthalrao Gadgil (1928–2001) MP forPune (Defence Production)	25 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 89 days
12			Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927–2015) MP forCuttack	23 December 1976	24 March 1977	91 days
13			Sher Singh Kadyan (1917–2009) MP forRohtak	14 August 1977	28 July 1979	1 year, 348 days	Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
14			Jagbir Singh Rajya Sabha MP forUttar Pradesh	30 July 1979	14 January 1980	168 days	Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
15			C. P. N. Singh MP forPadrauna	3 March 1980	19 October 1980	230 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
16			Shivraj Patil (born 1935) MP forLatur	19 October 1980	15 January 1982	1 year, 88 days
17			Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh DeoAVSM (born 1941) MP forDhenkanal	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 forMandi (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 forUttar Pradesh (Defence Research and Development Organisation)	25 September 1985	18 July 1987	1 year, 296 days
(16)			Shivraj Patil (born 1935) MP forLatur	22 October 1986	25 June 1988	1 year, 247 days
20			Chintamani Panigrahi (1922–2000) MP forBhubaneswar (Defence Production and Defence Supplies)	25 June 1988	4 July 1989	1 year, 9 days
21			Dumar Lal Baitha (1924–1997) MP forAraria (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 forBegusarai	21 November 1990	21 June 1991	212 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
24			S. Krishna Kumar (born 1939) MP forQuilon	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 forMahabubnagar	18 January 1993	19 January 1995	2 years, 1 day
26			Suresh Pachouri (born 1952) Rajya Sabha MP forMadhya Pradesh (Defence Production and Supplies)	15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
27			Mallikarjun Goud (1941–2002) MP forMahabubnagar (Defence, Defence Research and Development)	30 September 1995	16 May 1996	229 days
28			N. V. N. Somu (1937–1997) MP forChennai 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 forAhmedabad 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 forAlmora	13 October 1999	22 November 1999	40 days
31			Krishnam Raju (1940–2022) MP forNarasapuram	22 July 2001	1 July 2002	344 days
(29)			Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP forAhmedabad East (Defence Production and Supplies)	15 October 2001	29 January 2003	1 year, 106 days
32			Chaman Lal Gupta (1934–2021) MP forUdhampur	1 July 2002	22 May 2004	1 year, 326 days
33			O. Rajagopal (born 1929) Rajya Sabha MP forMadhya Pradesh	29 January 2003	22 May 2004	114 days
34			Bijoy Krishna Handique (1934–2015) MP forJorhat	23 May 2004	29 January 2006	1 year, 251 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
35			Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP forMahendragarh	29 January 2006	22 May 2009	3 years, 113 days
36			M. M. Pallam Raju (born 1962) MP forKakinada (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 forDhaurahra	28 October 2012	29 October 2012	1 day
38			Lalchand Kataria (born 1968) MP forJaipur Rural	28 October 2012	31 October 2012	3 days
39			Jitendra Singh (born 1971) MP forAlwar	28 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 180 days
(35)			Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP forGurgaon	27 May 2014	5 July 2016	2 years, 39 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
40			Subhash Bhamre (born 1953) MP forDhule	5 July 2016	30 May 2019	2 years, 329 days
41			Shripad Yesso Naik (born 1952) MP forNorth Goa	31 May 2019	7 July 2021	2 years, 37 days		Modi II
42			Ajay Bhatt (born 1961) MP forNainital–Udhamsingh Nagar	7 July 2021	9 June 2024	2 years, 338 days
43			Sanjay Seth (born 1959) MP forRanchi	10 June 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 165 days		Modi III

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Major-General Kumar Shri HimmatsinhjiCIE (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 forTarn Taran	12 August 1952	17 April 1957	4 years, 248 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru II
3			Satish Chandra (1917–1990) MP forBareilly (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 forTarn Taran	17 April 1957	10 April 1962	4 years, 358 days		Nehru III
4			Kotha Raghuramaiah (1912–1979) MP forGuntur	21 May 1957	10 April 1962	4 years, 324 days
5			Dajisaheb Chavan (1916–1973) MP forKarad	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 forRajahmundry	15 June 1964	24 January 1966	1 year, 223 days	Indian National Congress	Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
7			Shyam Dhar Mishra (1919–2001) MP forMirzapur	24 January 1966	14 February 1966	21 days		Indira I		Indira Gandhi
8			M. R. Krishna MP forPeddapalli	16 November 1967	27 June 1970	2 years, 223 days	Indian National Congress	Indira II
9			Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927–2015) MP forCuttack	5 February 1973	23 December 1976	3 years, 322 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira III
10			Brigadier Kamakhya Prasad Singh DeoAVSM (born 1941) MP forDhenkanal	15 January 1982	29 January 1983	1 year, 14 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi

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