Name Term of office Political party(Alliance) Prime Minister
Baldev Singh 2-Sep-46 1952 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru
Kailash Nath Katju 1955 1957 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru
V. K. Krishna Menon 1957 1962 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru
Yashwantrao Chavan 1962 1966 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru/ Lal Bahadur Shastri/ Indira Gandhi
Sardar Swaran Singh 1966 1970 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
         
Jagjivan Ram 1970 1974 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
Sardar Swaran Singh 1974 1975 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi 1975 1975 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
Bansi Lal 21-Dec-75 24-Mar-77 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
Jagjivan Ram 24-Mar-77 28-Jul-79 Janata Party Morarji Desai
Chidambaram Subramaniam 28-Jul-79 14-Jan-80 Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh
Indira Gandhi 14-Jan-80 1982 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
R. Venkataraman 1982 1984 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi
Shankarrao Chavan 1984 1984 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi/ Rajiv Gandhi
P. V. Narasimha Rao 1984 1985 Indian National Congress Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi 1985 1987 Indian National Congress Rajiv Gandhi
V. P. Singh 1987 1987 Indian National Congress Rajiv Gandhi
K. C. Pant 1987 1989 Indian National Congress Rajiv Gandhi
V. P. Singh 2-Dec-89 10-Nov-90 Janata Dal (National Front) V. P. Singh
Chandra Shekhar 10-Nov-90 26-Jun-91 Samajwadi Janata Party (National Front) Chandra Shekhar
Sharad Pawar 26-Jun-91 6-Mar-93 Indian National Congress P. V. Narasimha Rao
P. V. Narasimha Rao 6-Mar-93 16-May-96   P. V. Narasimha Rao
Pramod Mahajan 16-May-96 1-Jun-96 Bharatiya Janata Party Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Mulayam Singh Yadav 1-Jun-96 19-Mar-98 Samajwadi Party (United Front) H. D. Deve Gowda/ I. K. Gujral
George Fernandes 19-Mar-98 2001 Samata Party (NDA) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Jaswant Singh 2001 2001 Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
George Fernandes 2001 22-May-04 Samata Party Janata Dal (United) (NDA) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Pranab Mukherjee 22-May-04 24-Oct-06 Indian National Congress (UPA) Manmohan Singh
A.K. Antony 24-Oct-06 Incumbent Indian National Congress (UPA) Manmohan Singh