Piyush Goyal took over as the Minister of Railways in Rail Bhavan here today i.e. 31st May, 2019. In addition to Railways, he has also been assigned the portfolio of Minister of Commerce and Industry. Suresh Angadi Channabasappa, new Minister of State of Railways, Shri V.K.Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board & other Board Members were also present on this occasion.Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Piyush Goyal said, “Under the able leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, in last 5 years, a series of transformational steps have been taken in Passenger services and various aspects of Railways. In next five years, the focus will be to augment Railways with high speed, swift improvements in passenger convenience so that the entire experience of train journey and freight movement maybe further enhanced. We will work with same verve and enthusiasm to improve Railways.”During Shri Goyal’s previous tenure as Minister of Railways & Coal, Indian Railways have witnessed a series of reforms. Indian Railways achieved best ever safety figures. India became Power & Coal surplus for the first time ever. Also transformative growth in Power resulted in net capacity addition of renewable energy which exceeded that of conventional power while also achieving record low tariff in this sector.
Brief Profile of Shri Piyush Goyal
Piyush Goyal is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha (he was first elected to RajyaSabha in 2010 & re-elected in 2016) and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was part of the publicity and manifesto committees of the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2019 general elections.He has had a brilliant academic record- all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He was a well-known investment banker and he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth. He earlier served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.During his 35 year long political career, he has held several important positions at different levels in the BJP and is in the National Executive of the Party. He had the privilege of being mentored by stalwarts such as Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee , former Prime Minister of India. He was also nominated by the Government of India to the prestigious Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers in 2002.