Piyush Goyal

Piyush Ved Prakash Goyal is the current Minister of Railways and Commerce in the Government of India. He was elevated to Cabinet Minister position in 2017. He is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra. He headed the BJP's Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Goyal was born on June 13, 1964, in Mumbai to Chandrakanta Goyal and Ved Prakash Goyal. His mother was a three-time BJP MLA from Maharashtra and his father served as the Union Minister for shipping in the Third Vajpayee ministry from 2001 to 2003.

Goyal has had a strong academic record - all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He is married to Seema Goyal and the couple has two children. Goyal started his career as an investment banker and served on the board of India's largest commercial banks, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda as Government nominee.

During his 28-year-long political career, he has served on the National Executive and held several important positions in the BJP. He was elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha on 3 June 2016.

He became the MoS for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines in Modi ministry in 2014 and undertook multiple initiatives in his term. He became the Minister of Railways in 2017, taking charge from Suresh Prabhu. From May through August 2018, he was temporarily given additional charge of Ministry of Finance during Arun Jaitley's absence for medical treatment. He presented the 2019 Interim-Union budget of India in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2019. In June 2019, he was appointed as the Deputy Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha.