Piyush Goyal takes charge as new commerce and industry minister

New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal, took charge today afternoon as Commerce & Industry Minister. He was accompanied by Former Commerce & Industry Minister, Suresh Prabhu.

Speaking on this occasion, Piyush Goyal said that he is extremely humbled by stepping into the shoes of a visionary like Suresh Prabhu and will try to do his best to take the work of the Ministry forward. He further said that he will study all issues related to India’s trade and industry and prepare himself to deal with issues which require immediate attention.

After a landslide victory in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi on Thursday took oath as Prime Minister for the second time. Over 50 ministers were also sworn-in at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Union Cabinet for the 17th Lok Sabha includes 24 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers of state with independent charge and 24 Ministers of State (MoS).

In the afternoon today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced key cabinet portfolios naming Amit Shah as the new Home Minister, Rajnath Singh as the Home Minister, while the biggest surprise was Nirmala Sitharaman who got the  Finance portfolio replacing Arun Jaitley who was not included in the cabinet because of ill health.

Piyush Goyal retained Railways and has been given charge of Commerce and Industry which was held by Suresh Prabhu, who has been dropped.