NEW DELHI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday officially assumed charge of the Defence Ministry, a day after Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar resigned to return to his home state of Goa as the Chief Minister.

Sources said that Jaitley was given additional charge of the Defense Ministry late Monday evening, hours after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted Parrikar's resignation, but the finance minister took office Tuesday as Monday was a local holiday.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose Jaitley as he is one of the seniormost Ministers in the Cabinet who had held the dual position for around six months after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014 and before Parrikar was brought in from Goa," the sources said.

Jaitley will hold the additional charge of the Defense Ministry till a full-time defense minister is appointed. Sources said that he has to take forward the works done by his predecessor who is credited with clearance of a slew of arms deals and simplification of defense acquisition process.

Apart from being a seasoned politician who previously held the Cabinet portfolios of Commerce and Industry, and Law and Justice in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government of BJP (1999 to 2004), Jaitley is also a well-known Indian lawyer who represented giant multinational corporations such as PepsiCo.

Parrikar on Monday resigned as the defense minister after a little over two-year stint to become the chief minister of Goa, where the BJP claims to have cobbled together a few regional parties and independent lawmakers to form a government, despite not getting a clear majority in polls.