July 7, 2021 saw 43 ministers, including 36 new faces, taking oath in a major cabinet expansion-cum-reshuffle. This exercise also saw 12 ministers (seven Cabinet and five Ministers of State), including heavyweights like Dr Harsh Vardhan and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, relieved of their portfolios and ministerships.
Mobility Outlook gazed through the profile, responsibilities, and priorities of the new ministers, who would heavily influence the mobility ecosystem.
Piyush Goyal is the new Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles. As the Minister of Commerce and Industry, he is responsible for international trade policy, export products, industries and services, economic division, related finance, supply and logistics.
From the petroleum ministry, Dharmendra Pradhan moves to take charge of education and skill development & entrepreneurship ministries. He will be responsible for the co-ordination of all skill development efforts across the country, removal of disconnect between demand and supply of skilled human resources, building the vocational and technical training framework, skill up-gradation, building of new skills and innovative thinking for the existing and new jobs. With the mobility industry witnessing much disruption, skill development is crucial to enable the people in the ecosystem to match the trend.
Narayan Rane is the new Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). A former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Rane had also served the Income Tax department for about 13 years. MSME is the backbone of the country’s economic structure as there are over 63 million MSME units in India contributing to around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP, 24.63% of the GDP from service activities, and 33.4% of India’s manufacturing output. This segment is dying to get some support from the government to stay afloat.
Sarbananda Sonowal, former Chief Minister of Assam, takes charge as the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, responsible for developing critical infrastructure such as shipbuilding and ship-repair, major ports, national waterways, and inland water transport, for the social and economic development of the country. Leveraging inland waterways have been talked about extensively but the action is not significant. The country can save a lot of forex if the ministry takes strategic decisions and actions.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh has taken over as the Minister of Steel. A retired IAS officer of the 1984 batch, he served the bureaucracy for over 25 years across various capacities and domains. He is now responsible for co-ordination and planning of the growth and development of iron and steel industry in the country, formulation of policies in respect of production, pricing, distribution, import and export of iron & steel, ferroalloys and refractories, and development of input industries. Steel prices have increased to the tune of 40% during the past 15 months. Any effort taken to contain the growth in prices of steel will benefit almost every element in the manufacturing sector.
Former IAS officer known for his contribution to the PPP framework in infrastructure, Ashwini Vaishnaw is heading the railways, communications, electronics & IT ministries. An MBA from Wharton School, Pennsylvania University and M Tech from IIT Kanpur, he is expected to leverage his expertise in his past assignments and give a fillip to the world’s largest employer – Indian Railways.
Petroleum & Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs ministries will now be helmed by Hardeep Singh Puri. His ministry looks after crucial elements of the Indian economy and the mobility sector, such as exploration and production of oil & natural gas, refining, distribution and marketing, import, export and conservation of petroleum products. Therefore, any step taken to reduce the spiralling fuel prices will positively impact the economic growth the cost of living.
Jyotiraditya M Scindia has been appointed the new Minister for Civil Aviation. He has an MBA from Stanford University and BA from Harvard University. Scindia will be looked upon to steer India’s aviation sector through one of the most challenging crisis it has faced, with air travel decimated due to the pandemic and recovery threatened by rising fuel prices and slowing economic growth.
Air India’s disinvestment is likely to feature prominently on his agenda and the task of setting Indian aviation on a growth path again with reduced regulations and taxation, thereby unlocking its potential as a key generator of jobs for India’s young population. Scindia’s late father, Madhavrao Scindia, served as Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism from 1991 to 1993 under the then PV Narasimha Rao Government.
Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy. He is responsible for developing electrical energy in the country and everything relating to new and renewable energy. Both are crucial for the country as every kW conserved is saved, and renewable electricity will help contain pollution.
Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Minister of Labour and Employment. He is responsible for the implementation of India’s environmental and forestry policies and programmes, and protect and safeguard the interests of workers in general and those who constitute the poor, deprived and disadvantaged sections of the society, creating a healthy work environment for higher production and productivity and develop vocational skill training and employment services. Every initiative taken will have a direct impact on the economy.
Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey has been appointed as the Minister for Heavy Industries responsible for promoting the engineering industry such as machine tools, heavy electrical, industrial machinery and the auto industry. The ministry is crucial to the automotive sector as the testing, research, and homologation agencies such as ARAI and NATRIP come under this division.
The Minister of State includes Rao Inderjit Singh and Dr Jitendra Singh.
Inderjit Singh has been given independent charge of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Ministry of Planning. He is also the Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Dr Jitendra Singh has been made the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, a crucial portfolio for developing innovation and intellectual property rights.