Who are the architects of Union budget 2025?

As the nation eagerly awaits the Union Budget 2025, set to be presented on February 1, attention turns to the key officials shaping India's economic policies.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2025 on February 1, marking her eighth consecutive budget, the most by any finance minister in a single stretch.
The budget is expected to include measures to boost economic growth, provide relief to the middle class grappling with high prices and stagnant wages, and maintain fiscal prudence.

With this budget, Sitharaman moves closer to the record held by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented 10 budgets in total. Desai delivered six budgets as finance minister between 1959 and 1964 and four more between 1967 and 1969.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a senior IAS officer from the Orissa cadre (1987 batch), has been appointed as the Finance and Revenue Secretary.

Before this role, he headed pivotal departments such as the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

Pandey is also the longest-serving Secretary in charge of DIPAM. His appointment follows the elevation of T.V. Somanathan as Cabinet Secretary, succeeding Rajiv Gauba.

V Anantha Nageswaran, India's chief economic advisor, previously worked as a writer, author, teacher, and consultant.

He has taught at business schools in India and Singapore and has published extensively on economic matters. He was also a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister from 2019 to 2021.

Nageswaran holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre, has been serving as the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs since April 2021.

He previously held roles such as Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited and served as Deputy Secretary and Director in the Department of Expenditure and Economic Affairs from 2000 to 2004.

Between 2004 and 2008, he was an adviser to the Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank.

Senior civil servant Arunish Chawla, a 1992 batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre, has been appointed as the new Revenue Secretary.

He was previously serving as the Pharmaceuticals Secretary.