Bureaucrat-turned politician Raj Kumar Singh who steered Modi government’s power sector reforms agenda that made India surplus in electricity, was on Wednesday elevated as a Cabinet Minister from Minister of State rank.
Singh was administered oath as Union Cabinet Minister by President of India Ram Nath Kovind this evening. During his tenure, he managed the power grid and bring reforms in the distribution sector which has been debt-laden for years.
Power demand in the country touched an all-time high of 197.06 GW on Tuesday. Besides, Singh also worked in the area of clean energy to boost capacity addition of renewables like solar and wind.
During his tenure, the solar power tariff dropped to an all-time low of Rs 1.99 per unit. Similarly, wind energy tariff has also come down to below Rs 3 per unit in auctions for projects in India during his tenure as New and Renewable Energy Minster.
Singh, who has been elected twice to Lok Sabha in 2014 and 2019 from Arrah in Bihar, had become Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power as well and New and Renewable Energy in September 2017. He held the two ministries till May 2019.
After his re-election to 17th Lok Sabha in May 2019, he retained the two portfolios. Besides he also got Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as Minister of State. Before becoming a minister, bureaucrat turned politician Singh was a member of many Parliamentary committees.
