The following is a list of the longest-serving ministers of the Union Council of Ministers of India, listing those individuals who served at least a decade in Union ministries. As of September 2026, 90 Union ministers have served for at least 10 years in office, including 20 who served for 15 years or more and five who served for at least 20 years. As ministers often hold multiple portfolios during their respective tenures, only their final portfolios and the periods they served in their ranks are displayed here. Party affiliations are those held during the tenure (s) in office of each respective officeholder. Since the first Union Council was established in 1947, its members have been categorised into the following five ranks (in descending order):
The Prime Minister The Deputy Prime Minister (if one has been appointed) Cabinet Ministers Ministers of State (without membership of the Union Cabinet), in the following sub-categories: Ministers of State with Cabinet rank Ministers of State with Independent Charge of ministries/portfolios Ministers of State, reporting to the Prime Minister or to a Cabinet Minister Deputy Ministers (equivalent to Parliamentary Secretaries). Deputy Ministers have not been appointed since 1993.
Ministers in the first three ranks comprise the Union Cabinet, which is the supreme decision-making body of the nation per Article 75 of the Constitution. Regardless of rank, any member of the Union Council is a Union minister, per the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act 1952.
When multiple Union ministers have been sworn into office from the same date, they are listed in the order they were administered their oaths of office and secrecy, beginning with the Prime Minister. Union ministers who have served in multiple Union Ministries are listed in order of seniority, i.e. a Cabinet Minister in one Union ministry who remains a Cabinet Minister in a subsequent Union ministry is listed before a Minister of State who was subsequently promoted to the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
List Key Died in office
#Minister Portrait Final or current ministerial rank (final/current portfolio held) Ministries served Party affiliations Ranks Start of tenure End of tenure Time in office Overall tenure1Jagjivan Ram Deputy Prime Minister(Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence)Nehru INehru IINehru IIINehru IVIndira IIndira IIDesai INC (1947–1969) INC (R) (1969–1977) CFD (1977) JP (1977–1979)Cabinet Minister15 August 194731 August 1963 29 years, 4 months and 5 days24 January 19662 February 197728 March 197724 January 1979Deputy Prime Minister24 January 197928 July 1979 2 Swaran Singh Cabinet Minister(Minister of Defence) Nehru IINehru IIINehru IVNanda IShastriNanda IIIndira IIndira II INC (1952–1969) INC (R) (1969–1975) Cabinet Minister 13 May 1952 1 December 1975 3Satya Narayan Sinha Cabinet Minister(Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Communications)Nehru INehru IINehru IIINehru IVNanda IShastriNanda IIIndira I INC (1948–1969) INC (O) (1969–1971) Deputy Minister1 October 194826 February 1949 22 years, 3 months and 20 daysMinister of State26 February 194925 January 1950 31 January 19506 May 1950 13 May 195010 April 1962 Cabinet Minister10 April 19628 March 1971 4Raj Bahadur Cabinet Minister(Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation)Nehru INehru IINehru IIINehru IVNanda IShastriNanda IIIndira IIndira II INC (1951–1969) INC (R) (1969–1976) Deputy Minister29 May 195113 May 1952 21 years, 5 months and 25 days4 June 195214 February 1956Minister of State14 February 195613 March 1967Cabinet Minister18 March 19718 November 19739 November 197322 December 19765Pranab Mukherjee Cabinet Minister(Minister of Finance)Indira IIIIndira IVRaoManmohan IManmohan II INC (R) (1973–1977) INC (1980–1984, 1993–1996, 2004–2012)Deputy Minister5 February 197310 October 1974 20 years, 3 months and 18 daysMinister of State10 October 197424 March 1977Cabinet Minister14 January 198031 December 198417 January 19939 July 199331 August 199316 May 199622 May 200426 June 20126Kotha Raghuramaiah Cabinet Minister(Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Parliamentary Affairs)Nehru IIINehru IVNanda IShastriNanda IIIndira IIndira II INC (1957–1969) INC (R) (1969–1977)Deputy Minister21 May 195710 April 1962 19 years, 9 months and 26 daysMinister of State16 April 196227 June 1970Cabinet Minister27 June 197024 March 19777B. Shankaranand Cabinet Minister(Minister of Health and Family Welfare)Indira IIIndira IIIRajiv IIRao INC (R) (1971–1977) INC (1980–1987, 1988–1989, 1991–1994)Deputy Minister2 May 197124 March 1977 18 years, 5 months and 5 daysCabinet Minister14 January 198031 October 19844 November 198422 August 198725 June 19882 December 198921 June 199122 December 19948P. Chidambaram Cabinet Minister(Minister of Finance)Rajiv IIRaoGujralManmohan IManmohan II INC (1985–1996, 2004–2014) TMC(M) (1996–2001) CJP (2001–2004) Deputy Minister 25 September 1985 20 January 198618 years, 2 months and 2 daysMinister of State 20 January 1986 2 December 1989 21 June 1991 9 July 1992 10 February 1995 3 April 1996Cabinet Minister 1 June 1996 21 April 1997 1 May 1997 19 March 1998 22 May 2004 26 May 20149Indira Gandhi Prime MinisterShastriNanda IIIndira IIndira IIIndira III INC (1947–1969, 1977–1984) INC (R) (1969–1977) Cabinet Minister 2 July 1964 24 January 1966 17 years, 6 months and 9 daysPrime Minister 24 January 1966 24 March 1977 14 January 1980 31 October 198410Rao Inderjit SinghMinister of State(Statistics, Programme Implementation, Planning and Culture)Manmohan IModi IModi IIModi III INC