Bureaucrat-Turned-Politician Raj Kumar Singh Takes Oath As Cabinet Minister

Bureaucrat-turned-politician Raj Kumar Singh who steered Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's power sector reforms agenda, that made India surplus in electricity, has been elevated as a Cabinet Minister from Minister of State rank.

Mr 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 brought 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.

Mr 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 an to 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.

Mr 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. He also got Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as Minister of State.

Before becoming a minister, the bureaucrat-turned-politician was a member of many Parliamentary committees. Mr Singh started his career as an Indian Police Services (IPS) officer in 1974 and became an Indian Administrative (IAS) officer in 1975. He was District Magistrate, East Champaran from 1981 to 1983 and also District Magistrate Patna from 1983 to 1985. He also served as Director and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, between 1991 to 1996.

Mr Singh was also Home Secretary in Bihar, from 1997 to 1999 and Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs  from 2000 to 2005. He was Principal Secretary, Road Construction Department, Government of Bihar from 2006 to 2009. He was also Union Secretary Defence Production from 2009 to 2011. He held the post of Union Home Secretary from 2011 to June 2013.

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