Who is Raj Kumar Singh?

Bureaucrat turned politician Raj Kumar Singh was among 43 ministers who took oath in the mega cabinet reshuffle in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. on Wednesday. Raj has steered the Modi government’s power sector with reforms that made India surplus in electricity as on Wednesday he was elevated from Minister of State rank to Union Cabinet Minister rank. 

Raj, who has been elected from Bihar’s Arrah to Lok Sabha twice, in 2014 and 2019, has also brought reforms in the debt-laden distribution sector. He has also worked in the clean energy areas to boost the capacity addition of renewables like solar and wind.

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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.

In 2017, Singh took charge of the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power as well and New and Renewable Energy and held the two ministries after the 2019 general elections. After 2019, he was given additional charge of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as Minister of State.

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Started his career as an Indian Police Services (IPS) officer in 1974, Singh was also a member of many Parliamentary committees and served as Director and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence between 1991 to 1996.

He was also Home Secretary, Government of Bihar, from 1997 to 1999. He became Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, (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 also held the post of Union Home Secretary from 2011 to June 2013.