NEW DELHI: Political veteran Pranab Mukherjee was sworn in Wednesday as India's 13th president in an elaborate and symbolic ceremony in Parliament.    

The position of president is largely ceremonial, but Mukherjee would have a key role in determining who forms the next government in the event of a hung Parliament after elections in 2014.

The 76-year-old Mukherjee is a top leader of the Congress Party who resigned his post as finance minister to run for president. He was elected last week by national and state lawmakers.

Mukherjee traveled to Parliament on Wednesday in a bulletproof limo escorted by an honor guard on horseback and security jeeps. His arrival was greeted by the blaring of bugles.

The Chief Justice of India's Supreme Court S. H. Kapadia administered the oath of office in the flower bedecked central hall of Parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and Singh's Cabinet colleagues were present at the ceremony.

Soon after Mukherjee was sworn in, soldiers sounded a 21-gun salute amid loud applause from the hundreds of lawmakers who attended the event.

Mukherjee has been a Congress Party stalwart since 1969 and a key troubleshooter in managing its fractious coalitions.

At different times he has served as foreign minister, defense minister and finance minister, the latter twice. His latest term controlling the finance portfolio from 2009 was marred by slowing economic growth, a weakened currency and rising inflation.

India's economic growth of 5.3 per cent in the last quarter was the slowest in nine years.