Piyush Goyal retains Ministry of Commerce: A brief glance at his key achievements

Goyal previously served as the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles in the last government.

Piyush Goyal, sworn in as a cabinet minister once again in the Modi cabinet 3.0 on June 9, has been retained as the Minister of Commerce.

Notably, he has also won a Lok Sabha seat for the first time, representing Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes.

Goyal previously served as the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles in the last government. He was also the BJP's leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from 2021 until the 18th Lok Sabha Election.

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First elected to the Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra in 2010, Goyal became a Minister of State in the first Modi administration in 2014, handling the portfolios of Coal, Power, and New and Renewable Energy until 2017.

In 2017, he succeeded Suresh Prabhu as the Minister of Railways, launching India's first semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train between Delhi and Varanasi.

During then-minister Arun Jaitley's medical absence, Goyal also took on the additional charge of the Finance Ministry, presenting India's interim Union Budget in February 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections.

Moneycontrol outlines Goyal's key achievements as the Commerce Minister: 

>> Highest ever exports with total value of $776 billion in 2022- 23, nearly double compared to the levels in 2013-14.

>> He led signing of key Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) – UAE and Australia.

>> The commerce ministry under Goyal also signed the first trade pact with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) that has an investment promise of $100 billion in India in the next 15 years.

>> Under his tenure, the production-linked incentive schemes (PLI) witnessed over Rs. 1.03 lakh crore of investment till November 2023. Owing to this manufacturing of various electronic components like battery, chargers, and certain mechanics have been localised in the country.