R. K. Shanmukham Chetty

Sir Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty KCIE
Shanmukham Chetty in 1947
Minister of Finance
In office 15 August 1947 – 17 August 1948
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	John Matthai
Diwan of Cochin kingdom
In office 1935–1941
Monarch	Rama Varma XVII
Preceded by	C. G. Herbert
Succeeded by	A. F. W. Dickinson
President of the Central Legislative Assembly
In office September 1933 – 1935
Governor‑General	Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Preceded by	Sir Muhammad Yakub
Succeeded by	Sir Abdur Rahim
Member of the Imperial Legislative Council of India (Central Legislative Assembly)
In office 1924–1935
Governors‑General	Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Personal details
Born	(1892-10-17)17 October 1892 Coimbatore, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	5 May 1953(1953-05-05) (aged 60) Coimbatore, Madras State, India
Political party	Swaraj Party, Justice Party
Alma mater	Madras Christian College, Madras Law College
Occupation	Legislator
Profession	Lawyer, politician

Sir Ramasamy Chetty Kandasamy Shanmukham Chetty KCIE (17 October 1892 – 5 May 1953) was an Indian lawyer, economist and politician who served as first Finance Minister of India from 1947 to 1948. He also served as President of India's Central Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1935 and Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1935 to 1941.

Shanmukham Chetty was born into a wealthy Vanika Vaisya (oil monger community) family in Coimbatore^[1] in 1892 and studied at Madras Christian College and Madras Law College. On completion of his education, Shanmukham Chetty joined politics and served both in the Indian nationalist Swaraj Party as well as the Justice Party. Shanmukham Chetty was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of India and served as its Deputy President from 1931 to 1935. After losing the 1935 elections, Chetty returned to South India where he served as Diwan of Cochin kingdom from 1935 to 1941. On India's independence in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India controversially chose Chetty as his Finance Minister despite the latter's well known pro-British leanings. Shanmukham Chetty died on 5 May 1953.

During his public life, Chetty also identified with a number of social causes. He was a strong supporter of the Tamil Isai Movement. Shanmukham Chetty was the Finance Minister of India when the country's first budget was tabled in Parliament on 26 November 1947.