Railways Minister Piyush Goyal - Profile

New Delhi: "Good economics makes for good politics. We are today at the cusp of a development explosion," Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Minister of Coal, said in his biography.

53-year-old Goyal is one among the four ministers who have been rewarded with Cabinet ranks on Sunday as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet reshuffle.

Ahead of being elevated, Goyal was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines.

Presently a Member of Rajya Sabha, Goyal had earlier held the position of National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He has been consistently brilliant in academics. He holds an all-India second rank in Chartered Accountancy and also in Law in Mumbai University. 

Goyal has been an eminent investment banker, having advised top banking professionals on growth and management strategy. The 53-year-old also worked with the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

His elevation in PM Modi's Cabinet reshuffle comes after his exceptional performance. Goyal has been credited for implementing major power and coal sector reforms. He was instrumental in the record electrification of the rural areas. As many as 13,685 villages said to have been electrified till June 20, 2017.

Citing the state-run Rural Electrification Corporation, India Today reported that the remaining 4,141 villages are to be electrified by 2018. He was lauded for the successful implementation of the 

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana which is aimed at bringing overall socio-economic development to the rural areas. 

In 2015, PM Modi had pledged to electrify all 18,452 un-electrified villages within 1,000 days. Thereafter, the power ministry had taken up village electrification on a mission mode.

More than 25.01 crores LED bulbs have been distributed under the scheme, while 26.90 lakh LED street lights have been installed in 25 States/UTs.