Railway Ministers

Below is a list of the Union Government Ministers (and Ministers of State) of Railways over the years in independent India. Also included further below is the list of who presented the railway budget for each year.

Note: These lists may have some inaccuracies. Corrections or additions are most welcome.

Source and Acknowledgement: Many updates were provided by IRFCA member Sivaramakrishnan Nishanth who obtained the details using the RTI Act from the Railway Board.

See the FAQ for more historical information. Also see the list of trains introduced by railway ministers.

Railway Ministers of Independent India

Name Nomination Constituency State Start of tenure End of tenure Notes
Ashraf Ali 02.09.1946 14.08.1947 Exact title is unclear for this person.
John Mathai 15.08.1947 22.09.1948 Not formally designated the Minister for Railways. Presented the first Railway Budget of Independent India
Narasimha Gopalswamy Ayyangar Rajya Sabha - Tamil Nadu 22.09.1948 13.05.1952 Worked on consolidating the various railways into the zonal railways
Lal Bahadur Shastri Rajya Sabha - Uttar Pradesh 13.05.1952 07.12.1956 Resigned on November 26, 1956 accepting moral responsibility for a train accident at Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu, on the night of November 23, 1956, and two earlier accidents.
Jagjivan Ram Lok Sabha Shahabad South Bihar 07.12.1956 10.04.1962
Swaran Singh Sardar Lok Sabha Jullundur Punjab 10.04.1962 21.09.1963
H.C. Dasappa Lok Sabha Bangalore Karnataka 21.09.1963 08.06.1964
Sadashiv Kanoji Patil Lok Sabha Bombay City South Maharashtra 09.06.1964 12.03.1967
Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha Lok Sabha Mangalore Karnataka 13.03.1967 14.02.1969
Dr. Ram Subhag Singh Lok Sabha Buxar Bihar 14.02.1969 04.11.1969
Panampilli Govinda Menon Lok Sabha Mukundapuram Kerala 04.11.1969 18.02.1970
Gulzarilal Nanda Lok Sabha Kaithal Haryana 18.02.1970 17.03.1971
Kengal Hanumanthaiya Lok Sabha Bangalore City Karnataka 18.03.1971 22.07.1972
Tonse Madhav Ananth Pai Rajya Sabha - Karnataka 23.07.1972 04.02.1973
Lalit Narayan Mishra Lok Sabha Darbhanga Bihar 05.02.1973 02.01.1975 Was killed in a bomb explosion on the dais when he had gone to Samastipur on January 2, 1975 to inaugurate the Samastipur-Muzaffarpur broad-gauge line
Pandit Kamalapati Shastri Tripathi Rajya Sabha - Uttar Pradesh 11.02.1975 23.03.1977
Prof. Madhu Dandavate Lok Sabha Rajapur Maharashtra 26.03.1977 28.07.1979
Tonse Madhav Ananth Pai Lok Sabha Udupi Karnataka 30.07.1979 13.01.1980
Pandit Kamalapati Shastri Tripathi Lok Sabha Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 14.01.1980 12.11.1980
Kedar Panday Lok Sabha Bettiah Bihar 12.11.1980 14.01.1982
Prakash Chand Sethi Lok Sabha Indore Madhya Pradesh 15.01.1982 02.09.1982
A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhary Lok Sabha Malda West Bengal 02.09.1982 31.12.1984
Bansi Lal Lok Sabha Bhiwani Haryana 31.12.1984 04.06.1986
Shrimati Mohsina Kidwai Lok Sabha Meerut Uttar Pradesh 24.06.1986 21.10.1986
Madhav Rao Scindia Lok Sabha Gwalior Madhya Pradesh 22.10.1986 01.12.1989
George Fernandes Lok Sabha Muzaffarpur Bihar 05.12.1989 10.11.1990
Janeshwar Mishra Lok Sabha Allahabad Uttar Pradesh 21.11.1990 21.06.1991
C.K. Jaffer Sharief Lok Sabha Bangalore North Karnataka 21.06.1991 16.10.1995
Ram Vilas Paswan Lok Sabha Hajipur Bihar 01.06.1996 19.03.1998
Nitish Kumar Lok Sabha Barh Bihar 19.03.1998 05.08.1999
Ram Naik Lok Sabha Mumbai North Maharashtra 06.08.1999 12.10.1999
Mamata Banerjee Lok Sabha Calcutta South West Bengal 13.10.1999 15.03.2001
Nitish Kumar Lok Sabha Barh Bihar 20.03.2001 22.05.2004
Lalu Prasad Yadav Lok Sabha Chhapra Bihar 23.05.2004 25.05.2009
Mamata Banerjee Lok Sabha Kolkata South West Bengal 26.05.2009 19.05.2011

Ministers of State for Railways

Name Nomination Constituency State Start of tenure End of tenure Railway Minister
K. Santhanam 01.10.1948 29.02.1952 Narasimha Gopalswamy Ayyangar
Dr. Ram Subhag Singh Lok Sabha Bikramganj Bihar 13.06.1964 13.03.1967 Sadashiv Kanoji Patil
Parimal Ghosh Lok Sabha Ghatal West Bengal 13.03.1967 17.10.1969 C.M. Poonacha & Dr. Ram Subhag Singh
Mohammad Shafi Qureshi Lok Sabha Anantnag Jammu & Kashmir 10.10.1974 24.03.1977 L.N. Mishra & Kamalapati Tripathi
Sheo Narain Lok Sabha Basti Uttar Pradesh 14.08.1977 28.07.1979 Prof. Madhu Dantavate
C.K. Jaffer Sharief Lok Sabha Bangalore North Karnataka 14.01.1980 31.10.1984 Tripathi, Panday, Sethi & Choudhary
Madhavrao Scindia Lok Sabha Gwalior Madhya Pradesh 31.12.1984 21.10.1986 Bansi Lal & Mohsina Kidwai
Bhakta Charan Das Lok Sabha Kalahandi Orissa 21.11.1990 21.06.1991 Janeshwar Mishra
Dr. Mallikarjun Lok Sabha Mahabubnagar Andhra Pradesh 21.06.1991 18.01.1993 C.K. Jaffer Sharief
Kanu Charan Lenka Rajya Sabha - Orissa 19.01.1993 02.04.1994 C.K. Jaffer Sharief
Dr. Mallikarjun Lok Sabha Mahabubnagar Andhra Pradesh 22.08.1995 16.09.1995 C.K. Jaffer Sharief
Suresh Kalmadi Rajya Sabha - Maharashtra 16.09.1995 16.05.1996 C.K. Jaffer Sharief
Satpal Maharaj Lok Sabha Garhwal Uttar Pradesh 06.07.1996 09.06.1997 Ram Vilas Paswan
Ram Naik Lok Sabha Mumbai North Maharashtra 19.03.1998 05.08.1999 Nitish Kumar
Bangaru Laxman Rajya Sabha - Gujarat 22.11.1999 31.08.2000 Mamata Banerjee
Digvijay Singh Lok Sabha Banka Bihar 13.10.1999 22.07.2001 Mamata Banerjee & Nitish Kumar
O. Rajagopal Rajya Sabha - Madhya Pradesh 01.09.2000 01.07.2002 Mamata Banerjee & Nitish Kumar
Digvijay Singh Lok Sabha Banka Bihar 01.08.2001 01.07.2002 Nitish Kumar
Bandaru Dattatreya Lok Sabha Secunderabad Andhra Pradesh 02.07.2002 08.09.2003 Nitish Kumar
A.K. Moorthy Lok Sabha Chengalpattu Tamilnadu 02.07.2002 14.01.2004 Nitish Kumar
Basanagouda R. Patil (Yatnal) Lok Sabha Bijapur Karnataka 09.09.2003 22.05.2004 Nitish Kumar
Naranbhai J. Rathwa Lok Sabha Chhota Udaipur Gujarat 23.05.2004 25.05.2009 Lalu Prasad Yadav
Dr. R. Velu Lok Sabha Arakkonam Tamilnadu 23.05.2004 28.03.2009 Lalu Prasad Yadav
E. Ahamed Lok Sabha Malappuram Kerala 29.05.2009 19.01.2011 Mamata Banerjee
K.H. Muniyappa Lok Sabha Kolar Karnataka 01.06.2009 - Mamata Banerjee
Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki Lok Sabha Anand Gujarat 19.01.2011 - Mamata Banerjee
Mukul Roy Rajya Sabha - West Bengal 19.05.2011 -

Yearly List of Presenters of the Railway Budget of India

Material below provided by Rajendra Saxena.

Fiscal Year Budget Presenter Date
1947-48 Transport Member, Railway Board
1947-48 Col. R. E. Emerson (Chief Commissioner, Railways)
1948-49 Dr. John Mathai
1949-50 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
1950-51 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
1951-52 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
1952-53 (interim) N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
1952-53 (final) Lal Bahadur Shastri
1953-54 Lal Bahadur Shastri
1954-55 Lal Bahadur Shastri
1955-56 Lal Bahadur Shastri
1956-57 Lal Bahadur Shastri
1957-58 (interim) Jagjivan Ram
1957-58 (final) Jagjivan Ram
1958-59 Jagjivan Ram
1959-60 Jagjivan Ram
1960-61 Jagjivan Ram
1961-62 Jagjivan Ram
1962-63 Jagjivan Ram
1962-63 (final) Sardar Swaran Singh
1963-64 Sardar Swaran Singh
1964-65 H. C. Dasappa
1965-66 S. K. Patil
1966-67 S. K. Patil
1967-68 (interim) C. M. Poonacha
1967-68 (final) C. M. Poonacha
1968-69 C. M. Poonacha
1969-70 Dr. Ram Subhag Singh
1970-71 Gulzari Lal Nanda
1971-72 (interim) K. Hanumanthaiya
1971-72 (final) K. Hanumanthaiya
1972-73 K. Hanumanthaiya
1973-74 Lalit Narayan Misra
1974-75 Lalit Narayan Misra
Aug-74 Lalit Narayan Misra
1975-76 Kamalapati Tripathi
1976-77 Kamalapati Tripathi
1977-78 (interim) Prof. Mathu Dandavate
1977-78 (final) Prof. Mathu Dandavate
1978-79 Prof. Madhu Dandavate
1979-80 Prof. Madhu Dandavate
1980-81 (interim) Kamalapati Tripathi
1980-81 (final) Kamalapati Tripati
1981-82 Kedar Pande
1982-83 P. C. Sethi
1983-84 A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
1984-85 A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
1985-86 Bansi Lal
1986-87 Bansi Lal
Nov-86 Madhavrao Scindia
1987-88 Madhavrao Scindia
1988-89 Madhavrao Scindia
1989-90 Madhavrao Scindia
1990-91 George Fernandes 14.03.1990
1991-92 (interim) Janeshwar Mishra 25.02.1991
1991-92 (final) C. K. Jaffar Sharief 16.07.1991
1992-93 C. K. Jaffar Sharief 25.02.1992
1993-94 C. K. Jaffar Sharief 24.02.1993
1994-95 C. K. Jaffar Sharief 24.02.1994
1995-96 C. K. Jaffar Sharief
1996-97 (interim) Suresh Kalmadi 27.02.1996
1996-97 (final) Ram Vilas Paswan 16.07.1996
1997-98 Ram Vilas Paswan 26.02.1997
1998-99 (interim) Nitish Kumar 25.03.1998
1998-99 (final) Nitish Kumar 29.05.1998
1999-2000 Nitish Kumar 25.02.1999
2000-01 Mamata Banerjee 26.02.2000
2001-02 Mamata Banerjee 27.02.2001
2002-03 Nitish Kumar 26.02.2002
2003-04 Nitish Kumar 26.02.2003
2004-05 (interim) Nitish Kumar 30.01.2004
2004-05 (final) Lalu Prasad Yadav 06.07.2004
2005-06 Lalu Prasad Yadav 26.02.2005
2006-07 Lalu Prasad Yadav 24.02.2006
2007-08 Lalu Prasad Yadav 26.02.2007
2008-09 Lalu Prasad Yadav 26.02.2008
2009-10 (interim) Lalu Prasad Yadav 13.02.2009
2009-2010 (final) Mamata Banerjee 03.07.2009
2010-11 Mamata Banerjee 24.02.2010
2011-12 Mamata Banerjee 25.02.2011