The Ministry of Finance is an important ministry within the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. It concerns itself with taxation, financial legislation, financial institutions, capital markets, center

Central government

A central government also known as a national government, union government and in federal states, the federal government, is the government at the level of the nation-state. The structure of central governments varies from institution to institution...

 and state

State government

A state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...

 finances, and the Union Budget

Union budget of India

The Union Budget of India, referred to as the annual Financial Statement in Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the annual budget of the Republic of India, presented each year on the last working day of February by the Finance Minister of India in Parliament...

.

As of June 2011, Minister of Finance is Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current Finance Minister of India and leader of the current Lok Sabha.Mukherjee is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Prices, Security, Unique Identification Authority of India,...

.

History

R. K. Shanmukham Chetty

R. K. Shanmukham Chetty

Sir Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty KCIE was an Indian lawyer, economist and politician who served as independent India's first finance minister from 1947 to 1949...

 was the first Finance Minister of independent India. He presented the first budget of independent India on November 26, 1947.

Department of Economic Affairs

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is the nodal agency of the Union Government to formulate and monitor country's economic policies and programmes having a bearing on domestic and international aspects of economic management. A principal responsibility of this Department is the preparation of the Union Budget annually (excluding the Railway Budget). Other main functions include:

• Formulation and monitoring of macroeconomic policies, including issues relating to fiscal policy and public finance, inflation, public debt management and the functioning of Capital Market including Stock Exchanges. In this context, it looks at ways and means to raise internal resources through taxation, market borrowings and mobilization of small savings;
• Monitoring and raising of external resources through multilateral and bilateral Official Development Assistance, sovereign borrowings abroad, foreign investments and monitoring foreign exchange resources including balance of payments;
• Production of bank notes and coins of various denominations, postal stationery, postal stamps; and Cadre management, career planning and training of the Indian Economic Service (IES).

Department of Expenditure

The Department of Expenditure is the nodal Department for overseeing the public financial management system in the Central Government and matters connected with State finances. The principal activities of the Department include pre-sanction appraisal of major schemes/projects (both Plan and non-Plan expenditure), handling the bulk of the Central budgetary resources transferred to States, implementation of the recommendations of the Finance and Central Pay Commissions, overseeing the expenditure management in the Central Ministries/Departments through the interface with the Financial Advisors and the administration of the Financial Rules / Regulations / Orders through monitoring of Audit comments/observations, preparation of Central Government Accounts, managing the financial aspects of personnel management in the Central Government, assisting Central Ministries/Departments in controlling the costs and prices of public services, assisting organizational re-engineering through review of staffing patterns and O&M studies and reviewing systems and procedures to optimize outputs and outcomes of public expenditure. The Department is also coordinating matters concerning the Ministry of Finance including Parliament-related work of the Ministry. The Department has under its administrative control the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad.

The business allocated to the Department of Expenditure is carried out through its Establishment Division, Plan Finance- I and II Divisions, Finance Commission Division, Staff Inspection Unit, Cost Accounts Branch, Controller General of Accounts and the Central Pension Accounting office.

Department of Revenue

The Department of Revenue functions under the overall direction and control of the Secretary (Revenue). It exercises control in respect of matters relating to all the Direct and Indirect Union Taxes through two statutory Boards namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Each Board is headed by a Chairman who is also ex-officio Special Secretary to the Government of India ( Secretary level). Matters relating to the levy and collection of all Direct taxes are looked after by the CBDT whereas those relating to levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties and other Indirect taxes fall within the purview of the CBEC. The two Boards were constituted under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. At present, the CBDT has six Members and the CBEC has five Members. The Members are also ex-officio Secretaries to the Government of India.

Department of Financial Services

The Department of Financial Services covers Banks, Insurance and Financial Services provided by various government agencies and private corporations. It also covers pension reforms and Industrial Finance and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Sector.

Department of Disinvestments

Initially set up as an independent ministry (The Ministry of Disinvestment) in December 1999, The Department of Disinvestments came into existence in May 2004 when the ministry was turned into a department of the Ministry of Finance. The department took up all the functions of the erstwhile ministry which broadly was responsible for systematic policy approach to disinvestment and privatisation of Public Sector

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

Units (PSUs).

External links

• Finance Ministry
• Income Tax department
• Central Board of Excise and Customs