Sitharaman's core team: The 7 architects of Budget 2026
What's the story
As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gears up to present the Union Budget for FY2026-27, all eyes are on the key announcements. These include fiscal deficit targets, tax proposals, and spending priorities. However, behind this important speech is a small but powerful group of senior bureaucrats from different departments under the Finance Ministry. They have spent months shaping numbers, assumptions, and policy choices that make up the final document.
Key players
Team translates political priorities into budgetary arithmetic
The team of senior bureaucrats has been working on everything from taxation and expenditure planning to disinvestment strategy and financial sector policy. They have been working against a backdrop of resilient economic growth, persistent global uncertainty, and changing geopolitical equations. Together, they form the core team steering the government's fiscal strategy and translating political priorities into budgetary arithmetic.
Economic affairs
Anuradha Thakur - Secretary of Economic Affairs
Anuradha Thakur, the Secretary of Economic Affairs, is seen as the principal architect of the Budget. She heads the Department of Economic Affairs and oversees the Budget Division. This will be her first Budget in this top role after taking charge on July 1, 2025. Thakur's responsibilities include resource allocation, assessing fiscal space, and balancing growth priorities with macroeconomic stability.
Tax proposals
Arvind Shrivastava - Revenue Secretary
As Revenue Secretary, Arvind Shrivastava oversees direct taxes such as income and corporate tax, as well as indirect levies like GST and customs duties. This is his first Budget in this role. Expectations are high for him to rationalize customs duties, tweak TDS provisions, and shore up revenue mobilization. Shrivastava has previously served in the Budget Division and Prime Minister's Office (PMO), giving him a broad view of fiscal policymaking.
Public spending
Vumlunmang Vualnam - Expenditure Secretary
Vumlunmang Vualnam, the Expenditure Secretary, is known as the guardian of the purse. He oversees public spending, subsidy reforms, and implementation of major central schemes. His department plays a critical role in maintaining fiscal discipline and managing the fiscal deficit. Vualnam is responsible for setting broad expenditure framework for FY2026-27 while ensuring policy priorities are reflected in allocations while keeping overall finances on a sustainable path.
Financial inclusion
M Nagaraju - Financial Services Secretary
M Nagaraju heads the Department of Financial Services, which oversees public sector banks, insurance companies, and pension institutions. His department is key to financial inclusion efforts, credit expansion, and strengthening social security programs. It also contributes to policy measures on digital finance and financial stability. This makes Nagaraju's role critical in supporting growth through a resilient banking and insurance system.
Asset management
Arunish Chawla - Secretary of DIPAM
Arunish Chawla, Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), handles disinvestment and privatization plans. His department manages non-tax revenue targets from selling government stakes in central public sector enterprises. Chawla's inputs directly shape Budget estimates on asset monetization and feed into the government's broader public asset management strategy.
Public firms
K Moses Chalai - Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises
K Moses Chalai heads the Department of Public Enterprises, overseeing the financial performance and capital expenditure plans of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). The department also ensures budgetary support to state-owned firms is efficiently deployed and aligned with national priorities.
CEA
V Anantha Nageswaran - Chief Economic Adviser
V Anantha Nageswaran heads the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, which provides the analytical foundation for the Budget. The CEA's office evaluates global risks, projects economic growth, and tracks sectoral trends across agriculture, industry and services. It also advises the finance minister on key reforms, fiscal policy decisions and long-term economic strategy, shaping the intellectual framework that underpins the Budget.