Cabinet reshuffle: All changes are positive, says Adi Godrej

The government announced its new Cabinet Ministers last evening. The UPA 2 government inducted 17 new faces in the Cabinet. Salman Khurshid has been made the External Affairs Minister while Ashwani Kumar has got the important portfolio of Law.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Adi Godrej, president of CII says all the changes are positive. Below is the edited transcript of the interview. Q: Can you run us through your first reactions? A: It is a major change. Many peoples' portfolio have changed. Many new people have been inducted into the Council of Ministers. All the changes are positive. I am very glad that two young ministers have been given independent charges; Minister of State for power, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot for Corporate Affairs and Salman Khurshid in the External Affairs Ministry will be good. I do not know some of the other people. So, I won’t be able to comment. Overall, there is nothing negative and quite a few positives in the changes announced. Q: Power sector reforms are on top of India Inc’s concerns. With young ministers coming in to handle that portfolio, do you expect that the reforms will move faster? A: I expect the Ministry will be activated. It will move. But even for the last month or so, under Veerappa Moily, the Ministry did take some good actions. The reforms in the power sector go forward well. I think it has already begun. Scindia will be able to carry it forward well. Q: What do you think will be the fate of the Companies Bill now that Sachin Pilot takes over as the Corporate Affairs Minister? A: A lot will depend on how well the Parliament functions, though that has nothing much to do with the Companies Bill itself. With Kamal Nath now being put in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, things might work out better. If we see a normal Parliamentary session, this bill could probably be passed in the winter session. But if the same practices continue as in the last couple of Parliamentary sessions then almost no work gets done.