Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal take charge

July 9, 2021: On Wednesday, July 7, prime minister Narendra Modi did a major reshuffle on this union cabinet to remove a number of senior ministers and include some new faces with new ministers for civil aviation, shipping and railway ministries.

While Nitin Jairam Gadkari continues to be the minister of road transport and highways, all other modes of transport got new ministers.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia became the new minister for civil aviation and is expected to face huge challenges as the industry going through one of the worst times in history with closed borders and limited passenger travel, even though cargo is doing good. He replaced Hardeep Singh Puri who took over the charge of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas as a cabinet minister.

Former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal took charge as the new minister of ports, shipping and waterways. He is also facing many challenges which include the recent container shortage caused by congestions in Chinese ports as well as the implementation of new reforms. He replaced Mansukh Mandaviya who became the new minister of health and family welfare.

The new union minister for railways Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that high-speed trains, dedicated freight corridor, station re-development and up-gradation of the signalling systems as his priorities.