Palaniappan Chidambaram was India’s Finance Minister from 2004-14, except for a three and a half year stint – beginning November 2008 – as Home Minister, in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Chidambaram is a corporate lawyer and an important member of the last Congress-led government. The Indian... Read more
Palaniappan Chidambaram was India’s Finance Minister from 2004-14, except for a three and a half year stint – beginning November 2008 – as Home Minister, in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Chidambaram is a corporate lawyer and an important member of the last Congress-led government.
The Indian National Congress appointed P. Chidambaram as one of thirteen senior spokespersons on 15 September 2014.
Chidambaram brought discipline in government spending and launched an ambitious tax reform program to tackle an unwieldy fiscal deficit. His move to waive off farmer debt played a role in boosting aggregate demand in the Indian economy, thereby effectively insulating India from the impact of recession.
After graduating with a BSc degree in statistics from the Presidency College, Chennai, he completed his Bachelor of Laws from the Madras Law College (now Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College) and his MBA from Harvard Business School in the class of 1968. He also holds a Master’s degree from Loyola College in Chennai.