Piyush Vedprakash Goyal (born 13 June 1964) is an Indian politician who is serving as Minister of Commerce and Industry since 2019. He also served as Minister of Textiles and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. He was elevated to the Cabinet Minister position on 3 September 2017. Formerly a Member of Parliament for Rajya Sabha from the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, he is also the former Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. Goyal was elected as member of

18th Lok Sabha The 18th Lok Sabha was formed after general elections were held in India over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June 2024, to elect all members from 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The votes were counted, and the results were declared on 4 ...

Representing Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency. He is married to Seema Goyal and has two children, Dhruv Goyal and Radhika Goyal. Earlier, he held the post of the National Treasurer of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). He headed the BJP's Information Communication Campaign Committee where he oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the Indian General Elections 2014. Goyal has also held additional charge of Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs twice in 2018 and 2019. Earlier he was Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy (2014–2017), and Mines (2016–17). Goyal is the 2018 Carnot Prize Recipient for distinguished contributions to energy policy. He has been allocated the cabinet ministry for

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

-led NDA government in May 2019.

Early life and education

Goyal was born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to Chandrakanta Goyal and

Ved Prakash Goyal Ved Prakash Goyal (1926 – 17 December 2008) was an Indian politician and the Union Minister of shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in India from 2001 to 2003. He was the treasurer of Bharatiya Janata Party for a long time. He was ...

. His mother was a three-time

(BJP)

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

(MLA) from

and his father served as the Union Minister for shipping in the Third Vajpayee ministry from 2001 to 2003. His father also served as the National Treasurer of the BJP for over two decades. Piyush Goyal is Chartered Accountant with All India Rank 2, and he did Law from Mumbai University. He did his schooling from Don Bosco High School, Matunga.

Career

Goyal started his career as an investment banker and served on the board of India's largest commercial banks, the

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

(2001–2004) and

Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda (BOB or BoB) is an Public sector banks in India, Indian government Public sector bank headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. It is the third largest Public sector banks in India, public sector bank in India after State Bank of India ...

(2002–2004) as Government nominee. Goyal was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Consultative Committee for the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. An active member of the Managing Committee of Indian Merchants Chamber, he is also involved with NGOs in diverse fields such as tribal education and welfare of the physically challenged (Jaipur Foot). During his 35-year-long political career, he has served on the National Executive and held several important positions in the BJP including the national treasurer. He was also nominated by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

to the Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers. He was the Dy. Campaign In-charge for the Parliament elections in 1991 and played a key role at the central level in all elections since 2004.

Minister of State for Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy (2014–17)

Goyal became the Minister of State for

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, New and Renewable Energy in the

Modi government The premiership of Narendra Modi began 26 May 2014 with his First swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi, swearing-in as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeded Manmohan Singh of the Indian N ...

in 2014 and undertook multiple initiatives in his term. Under his tenure, India saw a proliferation of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

through the world's largest renewable energy expansion program. Ministry under him accelerated the mission to provide 24X7 reliable electricity to all households and pushed towards the adoption of clean energy. He introduced the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) to revive debt-ridden power distribution companies and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) to improve India's energy access. He initiated and completed the government program to electrify all the 18,000 remaining unelectrified villages of the country. He was awarded the 2018 Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions to energy policy and work in village electrification by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

's Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. He also worked for energy efficiency in the country through the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All (UJALA) scheme and reduced the prices of LED bulbs to per piece from in 2014. He revised the Government's target of 20 GW of solar power by 2022 to five times (i.e. 100 GW). Along with this, he also helped the cash-strapped state power distribution companies to turn around. On 5 July 2016, during the second cabinet reshuffle of the Modi ministry, he was included in the cabinet and took over as the Minister of State for Mines (Independent charge) from Narendra Singh Tomar.

Minister of Railways (2017 – 2021)

Goyal became the

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

on 3 September 2017 taking charge from Suresh Prabhu. Under his leadership, Indian Railways established a "Zero Accident" railway system and have seen no accidents for the past 22 months. He started 'Plan Bee', a method to prevent elephants from approaching the railway lines. It involves setting up of devices near tracks, which emit the 'buzzing' sound of bees, saving elephants from train accidents. He launched the first indigenous semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express between Delhi and Varanasi. In all the mountain railways region of the country, Goyal introduced Vista-Dome coaches, in an attempt to allow the passengers to enjoy the scenery of the hilly terrains. On 27 February 2019, Piyush Goyal announced a Railway Zone for Andhra Pradesh named South Coast Railway with Waltair Division in Andhra Pradesh along with Guntur, Guntakal and Vijayawada Divisions with the headquarters of the zone being in Visakhapatnam, according to the AP Reorganisation Act 2014. Goyal announced the 'Clone Train Scheme', wherein it planned to run a clone train with the train of the same number, to help and provide relief to the waitlisted passengers over heavy passenger traffic routes. For fighting climate change and making plastic-free India, he announced that tea will be sold in environment friendly 'Kulhads' (earthen cups) in place of plastic cups at all railway stations in the country. From May through August 2018, he was temporarily given additional charge of Ministry of Finance during Arun Jaitley's absence for medical treatment. Goyal presented the 2019 Interim-Union budget of India in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

on 1 February 2019.

Coronavirus Pandemic

By taking advantage of the

COVID-19 lockdown in India On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38billion (138 crores) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. ...

, the Indian Railways completed 200 key long pending projects. These projects, according to the Railways officials, included three super critical projects with a combined length of 68 km, three critical projects with a combined length of 45 km, upgradation of the entire 389 km railway line from Jhajha in Bihar to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction in Uttar Pradesh and a new 82 km port connectivity line to Paradip. During COVID pandemic in India, Goyal got Indian Railways to developed anti-COVID-19 coach to contain the spread of coronavirus. This anti-COVID-19 coach had hands-free water tanks and flushes; copper-coated handles and locks. During the second wave of the pandemic in India, to overcome the scarcity of Oxygen, the railways under him decided to run Oxygen Express to transport medical oxygen as well as the

oxygen cylinder An oxygen tank is an oxygen storage vessel, which is either held under pressure in gas cylinders, referred to in the industry as high pressure oxygen cylinders, or as liquid oxygen in a cryogenic storage tank. Uses Oxygen tanks are used to store ...

s. As of 7 May 2021, the Indian Railways ran "40 Oxygen Express with 161 tankers to deliver a record load of 2,511 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen."

Minister of Commerce & Industry (2019 – present)

In May 2019, Goyal continued at the Ministry of Railways and got the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

. He aims to discard restrictive States Government policies pertaining to License Raj, Land Permissions, Foreign Investment Proposals, and Environmental Clearances. In a bid to systematise the onboarding process of retailers on e-commerce platforms, Goyal directed the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to utilise the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to set protocols for cataloging, vendor discovery and price discovery. Goyal aims to provide equal opportunities to all marketplace players to make optimum use of the e-commerce ecosystem in the larger interest of the country and its citizen. Under Goyal's leadership in Jan 2021 India jumped 14 spots in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business rankings taking India to 63rd spot amongst 190 countries. In a bid to Atmanirbhar Bharat, Goyal launched One District One Product (ODOP) initiative to fuel the economic growth and generate employment within India. The objective of ODOP is to convert each district of India into an export hub by identifying products with export potential in the respective district. Goyal inaugurated 'Prarambh' International Summit, an initiative by Startup India in New Delhi.

Deputy Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha (2019 - 2021)

In June 2019, he was appointed the Deputy Leader of the House in

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

Leader of the House (2021-2024)

In July 2021, Goyal was appointed the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha succeeding his colleague Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution (2020 – present)

After the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan, he took over the additional charge of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food & Public Distribution on 9 October 2020. After taking charge, Goyal announced the strengthening and modernising of the

Food Corporation of India The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a public sector company. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, formed by the enactment of Food Corporation Act, 1964 by the Parliament of India. Its t ...

. He also emphasised that the procurement system at Minimum support price (MSP) will continue and

(FCI) will be committed to serving farmers. To ensure that all the migrant labor community can draw their allotted ration anywhere in the country Goyal called for speedy implementation of One Nation One Ration Scheme. At the 3rd Governing Council meeting of the

Bureau of Indian Standards The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government ...

(BIS), Goyal directed to cut quality testing charges for MSMEs, Startups and Women Entrepreneurs. Goyal also directed the Department of Consumer Affairs to focus and ensure on quality and quantity of products, processes and services to the consumers by way of the BIS Act, 2016 and Legal Metrology Act, 2009.

Electoral politics

He was elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from

for the

in 2010. He won as the BJP candidate for the Mumbai North constituency in the 2024 General Elections.

Personal life

He is married to Seema Goyal, an active social worker, and they have two children. His so
Dhruv Goyal
works at Evercore (Investment banking) while his daughter Radhika Goyal works at International Monetary Fund (Economist).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goyal, Piyush 1964 births Living people People from Haryana Politicians from Mumbai Indian accountants Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Union ministers of state of India with independent charge Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Maharashtra Narendra Modi ministry Rajya Sabha members from the Bharatiya Janata Party Railway ministers of India Ministers of finance of India Ministers for corporate affairs Ministers of power of India Commerce and industry ministers of India India MPs 2024–2029