India, Dec. 4 -- Since her appointment as India's first full-time woman finance minister in 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman has steered the nation through unprecedented challenges and emerged as one of the most consequential economic stewards of modern India. In July 2025, she became India's longest continuously serving finance minister. She has presented eight consecutive Union Budgets-the first person to do so. During her tenure, India not only recovered from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic but also became the world's fourth-largest economy. Sitharaman's tenure has been marked by bold reforms. This year alone, she brought in simpler income tax laws with the IT Act 2025, lowered slabs in the budget, and, as chairperson of the GST ...