Overview
Smt. Sitharaman assumed charge as the Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs in 2019, when she became the first full-time woman Finance Minister. Her tenure has been marked by numerous reforms in banking, taxation, corporate governance, and crisis management, aimed at strengthening financial institutions, empowering citizens, and enhancing India’s global competitiveness, with a strong focus on strengthening public sector banks, ensuring last mile delivery of services to the poor, advancing a non-adversarial and citizen-centric tax system, and delivering tangible relief to the middle class.
Notable reforms during her tenure have included the amalgamation of 10 public sector banks into 4 stronger entities; a five-fold increase in deposit insurance cover; the new optional income tax regime, Taxpayer Charter, and Faceless Appeals; decriminalisation of procedural offences under the Companies Act; and scrapping of retrospective taxation. She also announced the landmark ₹20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package during COVID-19, steered the new Income Tax Act, 2025, and chaired the GST Council in approving Next-Gen GST reforms to simplify structures and reduce compliance costs.
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