Chidambaram Subramaniam, was an Indian politician and independence activist. He served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence in the union cabinet. He later served as the Governor of Maharashtra. As the Minister for Food and Agriculture, he ushered the Indian Green Revolution, an era of self-sufficiency in food production along with M. S. Swaminathan, B. Sivaraman and Norman E. Borlaug. He was awarded Bharat Ratna, Indian's highest civilian award, in 1998, for his role in ushering Green Revolution.

The Minister of Finance is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. One of the senior most offices of the Union Cabinet, the finance minister is responsible for the fiscal policy of the government. A key duty of the Finance Minister is to present the annual Union Budget in Parliament, detailing the government's plan for taxation and spending in the coming financial year. Through the Budget, the finance minister also outlines allocations to all the ministries and departments. The Minister is assisted by the Minister of State for Finance and the junior Deputy Minister of Finance.