Modi's economic ministers get cracking

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's crack team of economic ministers led by Arun Jaitley in finance on Tuesday began the Herculean task of arresting price rise, reviving investor confidence and boosting growth.

Jaitley, who has also been given the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, pledged to contain the price rise, restore the confidence of investors in the economy and promote growth while keeping the fiscal deficit under check.

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New Telecom and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the right noises on retrospective tax, which has been severely criticised by industry and foreign investors, and promised a stable fiscal regime to lure overseas investments.

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Former BJP president and party heavyweight Nitin Gadkari, who turned 57 on Tuesday, will take charge of the Road Transport and Highways and the Shipping ministries on Wednesday. 

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Ramvilas Paswan, who assumed charge of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, said his priority would be to streamline the working of FCI and making the public distribution system more effective.

Three others -- Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Anant Geete -- did not take charge on Tuesday. 

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Apart from Jaitley, Prasad and Paswan, some ministers holding economic portfolios are first-timers with no background of handling high-profile assignments.

After taking charge, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaffirmed the BJP's stand of not allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, but said her government will take steps to boost exports and create jobs.

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Chartered accountant Piyush Goyal, now in charge of the warring coal and power ministries, vowed to end electricity shortages as he looked to develop synergies between fuel supply and power projects. He also holds the renewable energy portfolio.

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Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hinted at keeping the common man's interest in mind while deciding on issues such as natural gas price hike and fuel price de-regulation.