Modi 3.0 Portfolio Allocation Updates: BJP Retains Key Ministries; Shivraj Gets Agriculture, Nadda Health

Most of the key cabinet ministers in the third Narendra Modi-led government have retained the portfolios they held in the previous BJP dispensation. While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president J P Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers. While Nadda had served in the first Modi government and has this time been made the health minister, Oram returned to the Centre after a gap as the minister for tribal affairs.

Rajnath Singh (BJP): He has seen a long political innings from being a chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has retained the defence portfolio.

Amit Shah (BJP): He has retained the home and cooperation portfolios. He has also served as BJP national president for six years.
Nitin Gadkari (BJP): He has retained the road and highways portfolio. Closely associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from his early days, he is seen as a crusader for bio-fuels. He, too, has been a national president of the BJP.
Nirmala Sitharaman (BJP): She continues as minister of finance and corporate affairs. A Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, she decided against contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

S Jaishankar (BJP): A career diplomat who has served as India's envoy to Beijing and later rose to become the foreign secretary. He was the external affairs minister in the second Modi government. He has retained the portfolio.
Piyush Goyal (BJP): He was the minister of commerce and industry, consumer affairs, food and public distribution and textiles as well as Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha, in the previous Modi government. This time, he has retained the commerce and industry portfolio.
Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP): He has served as minister of education and minister of skill development and entrepreneurship. He has retained the education portfolio.
Pralhad Joshi (BJP): The minister of parliamentary affairs, coal and mines in the second Modi government, he has this time been given the consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and the new and renewable energy portfolios.
Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP): He was the minister for ports, shipping and waterways and Ayush. He retained the port, shipping and waterways portfolio.
Virendra Kumar (BJP): An eight-time Lok Sabha member, he was the pro-tem speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha tasked with the oath-taking of members as well as presiding over the election of the speaker. He was minister for social justice and empowerment in the previous Modi government and retained the portfolio this time.
Giriraj Singh (BJP): As a member of the last Lok Sabha, he became the cabinet minister of the newly formed ministry of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. Later, he was shifted to the rural development ministry. Now, he has been made the minister for textiles.
Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP): He served as the minister for civil aviation and steel in the second Modi government from 2021 after switching over from the Congress. He has been made the minister for communications and minister for Development of North Eastern Region in this BJP-led NDA dispensation.
Ashwini Vaishnaw (BJP): He was the railways and IT minister in the previous Modi government. This time, besides railways and IT, he also heads the ministry of information and broadcasting.
Kiren Rijiju (BJP): He was the law minister and later became the minister for earth sciences in the second Modi government. He now has been given charge of parliamentary affairs and minority affairs.
Jitan Ram Manjhi (Hindustani Awami Morcha (S)): He has been given the portfolio of micro, small and medium enterprises. His party is part of the BJP-led NDA.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (JD-U): The leader of the BJP ally has been made the minister for panchayati raj and minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (TDP): He has been given civil aviation portfolio in the NDA government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday handed over the reins of the crucial home ministry to his trusted lieutenant Amit Shah for a second consecutive term, signalling continuity on key internal security issues. Modi, who took charge for the third consecutive term on Sunday, allocated the portfolio of the home ministry to Shah, who has been handling the affairs of the key ministry since 2019.

Besides 59-year-old Shah, Nityanand Rai, who was minister of state for home in the previous government, too returned to the government in the same capacity. Rai got elected to Lok Sabha from Ujiarpur constituency in Bihar. Modi also selected MP from Karimnagar, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, a former president of Telangana unit of BJP, for the post of minister of state for home.

In a post on X, Shah expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for reassigning him the charge of home and cooperation departments. "Gratitude to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for reposing trust and reassigning me the roles of Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation. In Modi 3.0, the MHA will continue to accelerate and strengthen security initiatives and introduce new approaches to realize PM Modi's vision of a secure Bharat.

"Under the astute leadership of Modi Ji, the Ministry of Cooperation will remain committed to empowering farmers and villages with the vision of 'Sahakaar Se Samriddhi'," the home minister said. Recognised for his political acumen and strategic prowess, Shah has played a pivotal role in the phenomenal growth of the saffron party which helped it to cross the 300-seat mark in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Known as the second most influential figure in the country after Prime Minister Modi and a person dedicated to the saffron ideology, Shah rose as the BJP's master organiser when its alliance secured 73 seats from Uttar Pradesh in 2014 under his leadership as the party's general secretary.

Dealing with challenges arising out of China's bullying tactics along the frontier, protecting India's interest in view of the ongoing situation in West Asia and the conflict in Ukraine are expected to be the key priorities of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Jaishankar, 69, was among the senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman who retained the ministries they handled in the previous government.

"Deeply honoured to be appointed as the Minister of External Affairs in PM Narendra Modi's Government... Our commitment to Bharat First and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam will facilitate the making of a Vishwabandhu Bharat," the minister posted on X. He also welcomed newly appointed Ministers of State K V Singh and Pabitra Margherita to the Ministry.

"TeamMEA has worked over the last decade on a people-centric foreign policy," he said on X. As the external affairs minister since 2019, Jaishankar displayed with confidence his ability to clearly articulate India's positions on a range of complex issues on the global stage. From blunting Western criticism of New Delhi's procurement of crude oil from Moscow in the wake of the war in Ukraine to crafting a firm policy approach to deal with an assertive China, Jaishankar emerged as one of the leading ministers with an impressive record of performance in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's previous government.

Boosting India's domestic defence production, enhancing borer infrastructure and further bolstering the country's military preparedness are set to be the focus areas of Rajnath Singh as the defence minister in the third term of the Modi government.

Singh was among the senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, who retained the ministries that they handled in the previous government. As the defence minister since 2019, Singh initiated several path-breaking measures to strengthen India's combat readiness along the border with China, as well as boost the country's defence manufacturing.

Under his leadership, the defence ministry pursued an aggressive policy to enhance infrastructure along the frontier region that significantly helped faster military mobilisation in sensitive sectors. His tenure as the defence minister also saw India ramping up its maritime prowess in the strategic waterways in the Indian Ocean region. The focus is expected to be on boosting domestic defence manufacturing, further bolstering military preparedness and enhancing key infrastructure in areas along the country's borders, two military experts familiar with the new government's priority areas said.

India's defence exports crossed the Rs 21,000 crore mark for the first time in 2023-24 and the defence ministry has set a target of increasing it to Rs 50,000 crore in the next five to six years. In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to promote domestic defence production. India is one of the largest importers of arms globally.

According to estimates, Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement by 2029. The government now wants to reduce dependence on imported military platforms and has decided to support domestic defence manufacturing. The defence ministry has set a goal of a turnover of USD 25 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) in defence manufacturing in the next five years.

G Kishan Reddy has been appointed as the new Coal and Mines Minister in the newly-formed Modi 3.0 government. Reddy will succeed Pralhad Joshi, who has been appointed as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy in the new government.

Reddy's biggest challenge will be to ensure an adequate supply of coal to electricity generating plants, which are working overtime to meet peak power demand. Another area that would need his attention will be increasing private sector participation, expanding coal gasification and production of Coal Bed Methane. In the mining sector, the lukewarm response from bidders to the first round auction of critical minerals underscores the need for a pragmatic policy approach. The government had earlier cancelled the auction for 13 of the 20 blocks put on sale in the first tranche of critical minerals as the response was tepid. Reddy retained the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of over 49,000 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls, defeating his nearest Congress rival Danam Nagender.

A die-hard RSS loyalist and long-time BJP worker Pralhad Joshi has been appointed New & Renewable Energy Minister, who replaces RK Singh as he lost the election from the Arrah constituency. Joshi is a five-time member of Parliament from the saffron party's bastion of Dharwad in Karnataka. His main challenge will be to push the National Green Hydrogen Mission in the country. The government had also provided Rs 19,744 crore for setting a manufacturing capacity of electrolysers used for producing green hydrogen. The mission also provides incentives to produce green hydrogen and ammonia.

Besides, Joshi will have to ensure 50 GW capacity addition of renewable energy every year to achieve the ultimate target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based power generation by 2030.

Piyush Goyal will take charge as the Commerce and Industry Minister, for the second time, in the newly-formed Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said on Monday. Goyal, who won hist first Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North constituency by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes, took oath as the Cabinet Minister on June 9.

Goyal, 59, who had been a Rajya Sabha member since 2010, eloquently articulated the government's position on different occasions during debates on various issues in the Upper House of Parliament. He is the son of BJP loyalists Ved Prakash Goyal and Chandrakanta Goyal. His father was the minister of shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government and a BJP national treasurer, and his mother was a three-term MLA from Matunga in Mumbai. Piyush Goyal was elevated to the Cabinet rank in September 2017.

After leading the BJP as its national president for more than four years, J P Nadda was on Monday allocated the portfolio of Union Health Ministry and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, a day after he took oath as a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government. In the Modi 2.0, both the ministries were led by Mansukh Mandaviya.

Nadda had held the same portfolio in the Modi government's first term before he took over as the BJP's working president in 2019 and became the full-fledged party president in January 2020 after Amit Shah was appointed as the Union home minister. Nadda's term as the BJP president had ended in January. He was given a six-month extension to oversee the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. His term ends in June.

The 63-year-old is the sole representative from Himachal Pradesh in the present government. He served as the Union health minister in Modi's first term from November 9, 2014 to May 30, 2019. Nadda, who holds a degree in law, started his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in 1991.

He held various key positions in the BJP, headed its election campaign in a host of states -- from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab. He also served as a minister in BJP's governments in his home state of Himachal Pradesh. Nadda was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and made a member of the BJP's parliamentary board in 2014 when Amit Shah took over as the party president.

JD(S) leader and son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda H D Kumaraswamy has been allotted the portfolio of Union Minister for Steel in the Modi 3.0 government. Kumaraswamy will succeed Jyotiraditya M Scindia, who has been allocated the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in the new government.

He takes charge of the ministry at a time when the domestic industry is facing the crucial issue of rising steel imports from countries like China, and surging raw material prices. The JD(S) leader has also been given the charge of Minister of Heavy Industries. Two-time chief minister of Karnataka and five-time JD(S) MLA contested from Mandya Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and won by 2,84,620 votes, defeating Venkataramane Gowda (Star Chandru) of the Congress in the 18th general elections.

He secured 851881 votes, while Venkataramane Gowda got 5,67,261 votes. Son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy is the the state president of JD(S). He has managed to secure a cabinet berth by allying with the BJP, at a time when his party was fighting the "battle for survival". The 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader had desired to become agriculture minister.

Chandrakant Raghunath Patil, president of the BJP Gujarat state unit, has been appointed as the new Jal Shakti Minister in the recently formed Cabinet. The immediate task ahead for Patil is to fulfill the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide tap water to every rural household in the country by the end of this year.

Additionally, he will oversee the Namami Gange project, another significant initiative under the ministry. Patil would be replacing Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Alongside Patil, V. Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary have been appointed as Ministers of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Somanna also takes on the role of Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, according to an official statement.

RSS pracharak and Haryana's former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been appointed as power minister in the newly-formed Union Cabinet of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, an official statement said on Monday. Khattar will replace R K Singh who lost elections from Arrah in Bihar.

Shripad Yesso Naik, who won the Lok Sabha election from North Goa, has been appointed as the Minister of State for Ministries of Power and New & Renewable Energy. As power minister Khattar will have to deal with various issues including high power demand and coal supply issues faced by power producers across the country. The power demand has already touched an all-time high of 250 GW in May this year. Earlier, the power ministry had projected that peak power demand was estimated to touch 260 GW during this summer season.

In a significant political move, senior BJP leader and four-time former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made his national debut as the Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet. The 65-year-old leader, popularly known as "mama" (maternal uncle) and "paon-paon wale bhaiya" (foot soldier), took oath as part of the Prime Minister's Council of Ministers on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in his over three-decade-long political career.

With his extensive experience in governance and deep connect with the rural populace, Chouhan's appointment as the Union Agriculture Minister is expected to bring fresh impetus to the government's efforts in addressing the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and the farming community. Chouhan, who assiduously cultivated a 'son of the soil' image and identified himself with the socio-economic concerns of farmers, villagers, women, and children in Madhya Pradesh, proved his detractors wrong after being denied the chief minister's post for the fifth time last year.

Mansukh Mandaviya, who served as the union health minister at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, was on Monday appointed as India's new sports minister, replacing Anurag Thakur in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet. The 52-year-old Mandaviya won the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat by defeating his nearest Congress rival Lalit Vasoya by a margin of 3.83 lakh votes. Aside for the ministry youth affairs and sports, Mandaviya was also given charge of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in new cabinet unveiled on Monday.

Mandaviya was entrusted with the health portfolio in the middle of 2021 when the country was battling the COVID-19 crisis. At that time, he had replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was dropped from the Council of Ministers as part of a reshuffle.

The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, directed the allocation of portfolios among the following members of the Union Council of Ministers:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister and also in-charge of: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; All important policy issues; and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

CABINET MINISTERS

1. Raj Nath Singh:Minister of Defence.
2. Amit Shah:Minister of Home Affairs; and Minister of Cooperation.
3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari:Minister of Road Transport and Highways.
4. Jagat Prakash Nadda:Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan:Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Minister of Rural Development.
6. Nirmala Sitharaman:Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.
7. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar:Minister of External Affairs.
8. Manohar Lal:Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs; and Minister of Power.
9. H. D. Kumaraswamy:Minister of Heavy Industries; and Minister of Steel.
10. Piyush Goyal:Minister of Commerce and Industry.
11. Dharmendra Pradhan:Minister of Education.
12. Jitan Ram Manjhi:Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
13. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh:Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
14. Sarbananda Sonowal:Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
15. Dr. Virendra Kumar:Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
16. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu:Minister of Civil Aviation.
17. Pralhad Joshi:Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
18. Jual Oram:Minister of Tribal Affairs.
19. Giriraj Singh:Minister of Textiles.
20. Ashwini Vaishnaw:Minister of Railways; Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
21. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia:Minister of Communications; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region.
22. Bhupender Yadav:Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
23. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat:Minister of Culture; and Minister of Tourism.
24. Annpurna Devi:Minister of Women and Child Development
25. Kiren Rijiju:Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of Minority Affairs.
26. Hardeep Singh Puri:Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas
27. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya:Minister of Labour and Employment; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.
28. G. Kishan Reddy:Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.
29. Chirag Paswan: Minister of Food Processing Industries.
30. C R Patil:Minister of Jal Shakti.

MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

1. Rao Inderjit Singh:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture.
2. Dr. Jitendra Singh:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space.
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
4. Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayush; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
5. Jayant Chaudhary:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education.

MINISTERS OF STATE

1. Jitin Prasada:Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
2. Shripad Yesso Naik:Minister of State in the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
3. Pankaj Chaudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.
4. Krishan Pal:Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation.
5. Ramdas Athawale:Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
6. Ram Nath Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
7. Nityanand Rai:Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
8. Anupriya Patel:Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
9. V. Somanna:Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
10. Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani:Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications.
11. Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel:Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
12. Sobha Karandlaje:Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
13. Kirtivardhan Singh:Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs.
14. B. L. Verma:Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
15. Shantanu Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
16. Suresh Gopi:Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism.
17. Dr. L. Murugan:Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
18. Ajay Tamta:Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
19. Bandi Sanjay Kumar:Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
20. Kamlesh Paswan:Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.
21. Bhagirath Choudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
22. Satish Chandra Dubey:Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines.
23. Sanjay Seth:Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
24. Ravneet Singh:Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
25. Durgadas Uikey:Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
26. Raksha Nikhil Khadse:Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
27. Sukanta Majumdar:Minister of State in the Ministry of Education; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
28. Savitri Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
29. Tokhan Sahu:Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
30. Raj Bhushan Choudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
31. Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma:Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.
32. Harsh Malhotra:Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
33. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya:Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
34. Murlidhar Mohol:Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
35. George Kurian:Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
36. Pabitra Margherita:Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles.

HD Kumaraswamy, the MP from BJP ally Janata Dal (Secular), has been allocated the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Ram Mohan Naidu from BJP's ally Telugu Desam Party, has been appointed the Civil Aviation Minister. The young MP will take over the ministry from Jyotiraditya Scindia.

ML Khattar gets power, Kiren Rijiju parliamentary affairs portfolios; Sarbananda Sonowal to continue as shipping minister.

Nitin Gadkari retains road transport ministry; Dharmendra Pradhan to continue as education minister.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan is new agriculture and rural development minister; J P Nadda gets health ministry.

Suspense over the allocation of portfolios to ministers in PM Modi's cabinet 3.0 has started to fizzle out, with three of the key BJP leaders retaining their ministries. Amit Shah has retained the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Rajnath Singh has retained the Defence Ministry in Modi 3.0. Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari has retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Nirmala Sitharaman has retained the Ministry of Finance and S Jaishankar will continue the charge of leading the Ministry of External Affairs. As such, there is no change in big four ministers - Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs, as BJP has retained them all.

In its first decision, the Modi cabinet has cleared approval for 3 crore PM Awas Yojana houses. This was the first meeting of the Union Cabinet of Modi 3.0 government held at the Prime Minister's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The meeting was attended by ministers of all allies of the NDA.

"It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting today to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families," officials said. The government of India is implementing the PMAY since 2015-16 to provide assistance to eligible rural and urban households for the construction of houses with basic amenities.

Under PMAY, a total of 4.21 crore houses have been completed for the eligible poor families under the housing schemes in the last 10 years. All the houses constructed under PMAY are provided basic amenities like household toilets, LPG connection, electricity connection and functional household tap connection through convergence with other schemes of the central and state governments.

After being sworn in as Prime Minister for the 3rd time, PM Narendra Modi signed his first file authorising release of 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi. This will benefit 9.3 crore farmers and distribute around Rs 20,000 crores. After signing the file, PM Modi said “Ours is a Government fully committed to Kisan Kalyan. It is therefore fitting that the first file signed on taking charge is related to farmer welfare. We want to keep working even more for the farmers and the agriculture sector in the times to come.”

Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance on Monday took potshots at CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar over their share in the new Union ministry led by PM Narendra Modi. At the swearing in ceremony on Sunday, Prataprao Jadhav of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena was sworn in as MoS with independent charge, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP declined a minister of state berth, insisting on a cabinet post.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Monday said the minuscule representation to the two parties in the Modi cabinet has proved that the BJP has shown them their place. This is what you get when you decide to be someone's slaves, Raut told reporters. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said if the Ajit Pawar-led NCP doesn't accept the MoS post, they should forget any cabinet berth in future. Ajit Pawar must have realised albeit late that the BJP has a use and throw policy for its allies, said Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Baramati Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule said she is not surprised over the Ajit Pawar-led NCP not getting a cabinet berth in the Modi cabinet. Sanjay Shirsat, spokesperson of the Shinde-led Sena sought to make light of the opposition criticism, saying there may be some reasons why his party did not get any cabinet berth.

1. Raj Nath Singh
2. Amit Shah
3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari
4. Jagat Prakash Nadda
5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan
6. Nirmala Sitharaman
7. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
8. Manohar Lal
9. H. D. Kumaraswamy
10. Piyush Goyal
11. Dharmendra Pradhan
12. Jitan Ram Manjhi
13. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh
14. Sarbananda Sonowal
15. Dr. Virendra Kumar
16. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu
17. Pralhad Joshi
18. Jual Oram
19. Giriraj Singh
20. Ashwini Vaishnaw
21. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia
22. Bhupender Yadav
23. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
24. Annpurna Devi
25. Kiren Rijiju
26. Hardeep Singh Puri
27. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya
28. G. Kishan Reddy
29. Chirag Paswan
30. C R Patil

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

1. Rao Inderjit Singh
2. Dr. Jitendra Singh
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal
4. Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao
5. Jayant Chaudhary

Minister of State

Jitin Prasada, Shripad Yesso Naik, Pankaj Chaudhary, Krishan Pal, Ramdas Athawale, Ram Nath Thakur, Nityanand Rai, Anupriya Patel, V. Somanna, Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel, Sobha Karandlaje, Kirtivardhan Singh, B. L. Verma, Shantanu Thakur, Suresh Gopi, Dr. L. Murugan, Ajay Tamta, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Kamlesh Paswan, Bhagirath Choudhary, Satish Chandra Dubey, Sanjay Seth, Ravneet Singh, Durgadas Uikey, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Sukanta Majumdar, Savitri Thakur, Tokhan Sahu, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, Harsh Malhotra, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, Murlidhar Mohol, George Kurian, and Pabitra Margherita.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday his office has become a "catalytic agent" which infuses new energy and dynamism into the system, and claimed that it used to be seen as a big power centre 10 years ago. Addressing staffers of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) after he began this third term, Modi said his only goal is "nation first" and his only motivation "Viksit Bharat", adding that this was his expectation from them as well.

"My every moment is for the country," Modi said, asserting that he has promised to work round the clock to achieve the goal of India becoming a developed country by 2047. The PMO should be for service and it should be a people's PMO and not Modi's, he said, adding that he was not born to rule and he does not think about accumulating power.

The 140 crore people of India are always on his mind and he considers them a form of God, Modi said. In the last three months, Modi said in an apparent reference to the election campaign, he witnessed their strength, dedication and energy for a new resolve. That is why people have again given him the opportunity to serve the country, he added.

Most of the key cabinet ministers in the third Narendra Modi-led government have retained the portfolios they held in the previous BJP dispensation. While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president J P Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers. While Nadda had served in the first Modi government and has this time been made the health minister, Oram returned to the Centre after a gap as the minister for tribal affairs.

Rajnath Singh (BJP): He has seen a long political innings from being a chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has retained the defence portfolio.

Amit Shah (BJP): He has retained the home and cooperation portfolios. He has also served as BJP national president for six years.
Nitin Gadkari (BJP): He has retained the road and highways portfolio. Closely associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from his early days, he is seen as a crusader for bio-fuels. He, too, has been a national president of the BJP.
Nirmala Sitharaman (BJP): She continues as minister of finance and corporate affairs. A Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, she decided against contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

S Jaishankar (BJP): A career diplomat who has served as India's envoy to Beijing and later rose to become the foreign secretary. He was the external affairs minister in the second Modi government. He has retained the portfolio.
Piyush Goyal (BJP): He was the minister of commerce and industry, consumer affairs, food and public distribution and textiles as well as Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha, in the previous Modi government. This time, he has retained the commerce and industry portfolio.
Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP): He has served as minister of education and minister of skill development and entrepreneurship. He has retained the education portfolio.
Pralhad Joshi (BJP): The minister of parliamentary affairs, coal and mines in the second Modi government, he has this time been given the consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and the new and renewable energy portfolios.
Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP): He was the minister for ports, shipping and waterways and Ayush. He retained the port, shipping and waterways portfolio.
Virendra Kumar (BJP): An eight-time Lok Sabha member, he was the pro-tem speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha tasked with the oath-taking of members as well as presiding over the election of the speaker. He was minister for social justice and empowerment in the previous Modi government and retained the portfolio this time.
Giriraj Singh (BJP): As a member of the last Lok Sabha, he became the cabinet minister of the newly formed ministry of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. Later, he was shifted to the rural development ministry. Now, he has been made the minister for textiles.
Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP): He served as the minister for civil aviation and steel in the second Modi government from 2021 after switching over from the Congress. He has been made the minister for communications and minister for Development of North Eastern Region in this BJP-led NDA dispensation.
Ashwini Vaishnaw (BJP): He was the railways and IT minister in the previous Modi government. This time, besides railways and IT, he also heads the ministry of information and broadcasting.
Kiren Rijiju (BJP): He was the law minister and later became the minister for earth sciences in the second Modi government. He now has been given charge of parliamentary affairs and minority affairs.
Jitan Ram Manjhi (Hindustani Awami Morcha (S)): He has been given the portfolio of micro, small and medium enterprises. His party is part of the BJP-led NDA.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (JD-U): The leader of the BJP ally has been made the minister for panchayati raj and minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (TDP): He has been given civil aviation portfolio in the NDA government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday handed over the reins of the crucial home ministry to his trusted lieutenant Amit Shah for a second consecutive term, signalling continuity on key internal security issues. Modi, who took charge for the third consecutive term on Sunday, allocated the portfolio of the home ministry to Shah, who has been handling the affairs of the key ministry since 2019.

Besides 59-year-old Shah, Nityanand Rai, who was minister of state for home in the previous government, too returned to the government in the same capacity. Rai got elected to Lok Sabha from Ujiarpur constituency in Bihar. Modi also selected MP from Karimnagar, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, a former president of Telangana unit of BJP, for the post of minister of state for home.

In a post on X, Shah expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for reassigning him the charge of home and cooperation departments. "Gratitude to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for reposing trust and reassigning me the roles of Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation. In Modi 3.0, the MHA will continue to accelerate and strengthen security initiatives and introduce new approaches to realize PM Modi's vision of a secure Bharat.

"Under the astute leadership of Modi Ji, the Ministry of Cooperation will remain committed to empowering farmers and villages with the vision of 'Sahakaar Se Samriddhi'," the home minister said. Recognised for his political acumen and strategic prowess, Shah has played a pivotal role in the phenomenal growth of the saffron party which helped it to cross the 300-seat mark in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Known as the second most influential figure in the country after Prime Minister Modi and a person dedicated to the saffron ideology, Shah rose as the BJP's master organiser when its alliance secured 73 seats from Uttar Pradesh in 2014 under his leadership as the party's general secretary.

Dealing with challenges arising out of China's bullying tactics along the frontier, protecting India's interest in view of the ongoing situation in West Asia and the conflict in Ukraine are expected to be the key priorities of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Jaishankar, 69, was among the senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman who retained the ministries they handled in the previous government.

"Deeply honoured to be appointed as the Minister of External Affairs in PM Narendra Modi's Government... Our commitment to Bharat First and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam will facilitate the making of a Vishwabandhu Bharat," the minister posted on X. He also welcomed newly appointed Ministers of State K V Singh and Pabitra Margherita to the Ministry.

"TeamMEA has worked over the last decade on a people-centric foreign policy," he said on X. As the external affairs minister since 2019, Jaishankar displayed with confidence his ability to clearly articulate India's positions on a range of complex issues on the global stage. From blunting Western criticism of New Delhi's procurement of crude oil from Moscow in the wake of the war in Ukraine to crafting a firm policy approach to deal with an assertive China, Jaishankar emerged as one of the leading ministers with an impressive record of performance in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's previous government.

Boosting India's domestic defence production, enhancing borer infrastructure and further bolstering the country's military preparedness are set to be the focus areas of Rajnath Singh as the defence minister in the third term of the Modi government.

Singh was among the senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, who retained the ministries that they handled in the previous government. As the defence minister since 2019, Singh initiated several path-breaking measures to strengthen India's combat readiness along the border with China, as well as boost the country's defence manufacturing.

Under his leadership, the defence ministry pursued an aggressive policy to enhance infrastructure along the frontier region that significantly helped faster military mobilisation in sensitive sectors. His tenure as the defence minister also saw India ramping up its maritime prowess in the strategic waterways in the Indian Ocean region. The focus is expected to be on boosting domestic defence manufacturing, further bolstering military preparedness and enhancing key infrastructure in areas along the country's borders, two military experts familiar with the new government's priority areas said.

India's defence exports crossed the Rs 21,000 crore mark for the first time in 2023-24 and the defence ministry has set a target of increasing it to Rs 50,000 crore in the next five to six years. In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to promote domestic defence production. India is one of the largest importers of arms globally.

According to estimates, Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement by 2029. The government now wants to reduce dependence on imported military platforms and has decided to support domestic defence manufacturing. The defence ministry has set a goal of a turnover of USD 25 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) in defence manufacturing in the next five years.

G Kishan Reddy has been appointed as the new Coal and Mines Minister in the newly-formed Modi 3.0 government. Reddy will succeed Pralhad Joshi, who has been appointed as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy in the new government.

Reddy's biggest challenge will be to ensure an adequate supply of coal to electricity generating plants, which are working overtime to meet peak power demand. Another area that would need his attention will be increasing private sector participation, expanding coal gasification and production of Coal Bed Methane. In the mining sector, the lukewarm response from bidders to the first round auction of critical minerals underscores the need for a pragmatic policy approach. The government had earlier cancelled the auction for 13 of the 20 blocks put on sale in the first tranche of critical minerals as the response was tepid. Reddy retained the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of over 49,000 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls, defeating his nearest Congress rival Danam Nagender.

A die-hard RSS loyalist and long-time BJP worker Pralhad Joshi has been appointed New & Renewable Energy Minister, who replaces RK Singh as he lost the election from the Arrah constituency. Joshi is a five-time member of Parliament from the saffron party's bastion of Dharwad in Karnataka. His main challenge will be to push the National Green Hydrogen Mission in the country. The government had also provided Rs 19,744 crore for setting a manufacturing capacity of electrolysers used for producing green hydrogen. The mission also provides incentives to produce green hydrogen and ammonia.

Besides, Joshi will have to ensure 50 GW capacity addition of renewable energy every year to achieve the ultimate target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based power generation by 2030.

Piyush Goyal will take charge as the Commerce and Industry Minister, for the second time, in the newly-formed Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said on Monday. Goyal, who won hist first Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North constituency by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes, took oath as the Cabinet Minister on June 9.

Goyal, 59, who had been a Rajya Sabha member since 2010, eloquently articulated the government's position on different occasions during debates on various issues in the Upper House of Parliament. He is the son of BJP loyalists Ved Prakash Goyal and Chandrakanta Goyal. His father was the minister of shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government and a BJP national treasurer, and his mother was a three-term MLA from Matunga in Mumbai. Piyush Goyal was elevated to the Cabinet rank in September 2017.

After leading the BJP as its national president for more than four years, J P Nadda was on Monday allocated the portfolio of Union Health Ministry and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, a day after he took oath as a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government. In the Modi 2.0, both the ministries were led by Mansukh Mandaviya.

Nadda had held the same portfolio in the Modi government's first term before he took over as the BJP's working president in 2019 and became the full-fledged party president in January 2020 after Amit Shah was appointed as the Union home minister. Nadda's term as the BJP president had ended in January. He was given a six-month extension to oversee the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. His term ends in June.

The 63-year-old is the sole representative from Himachal Pradesh in the present government. He served as the Union health minister in Modi's first term from November 9, 2014 to May 30, 2019. Nadda, who holds a degree in law, started his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in 1991.

He held various key positions in the BJP, headed its election campaign in a host of states -- from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab. He also served as a minister in BJP's governments in his home state of Himachal Pradesh. Nadda was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and made a member of the BJP's parliamentary board in 2014 when Amit Shah took over as the party president.

JD(S) leader and son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda H D Kumaraswamy has been allotted the portfolio of Union Minister for Steel in the Modi 3.0 government. Kumaraswamy will succeed Jyotiraditya M Scindia, who has been allocated the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in the new government.

He takes charge of the ministry at a time when the domestic industry is facing the crucial issue of rising steel imports from countries like China, and surging raw material prices. The JD(S) leader has also been given the charge of Minister of Heavy Industries. Two-time chief minister of Karnataka and five-time JD(S) MLA contested from Mandya Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and won by 2,84,620 votes, defeating Venkataramane Gowda (Star Chandru) of the Congress in the 18th general elections.

He secured 851881 votes, while Venkataramane Gowda got 5,67,261 votes. Son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy is the the state president of JD(S). He has managed to secure a cabinet berth by allying with the BJP, at a time when his party was fighting the "battle for survival". The 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader had desired to become agriculture minister.

Chandrakant Raghunath Patil, president of the BJP Gujarat state unit, has been appointed as the new Jal Shakti Minister in the recently formed Cabinet. The immediate task ahead for Patil is to fulfill the ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide tap water to every rural household in the country by the end of this year.

Additionally, he will oversee the Namami Gange project, another significant initiative under the ministry. Patil would be replacing Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Alongside Patil, V. Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary have been appointed as Ministers of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Somanna also takes on the role of Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, according to an official statement.

RSS pracharak and Haryana's former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been appointed as power minister in the newly-formed Union Cabinet of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, an official statement said on Monday. Khattar will replace R K Singh who lost elections from Arrah in Bihar.

Shripad Yesso Naik, who won the Lok Sabha election from North Goa, has been appointed as the Minister of State for Ministries of Power and New & Renewable Energy. As power minister Khattar will have to deal with various issues including high power demand and coal supply issues faced by power producers across the country. The power demand has already touched an all-time high of 250 GW in May this year. Earlier, the power ministry had projected that peak power demand was estimated to touch 260 GW during this summer season.

In a significant political move, senior BJP leader and four-time former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made his national debut as the Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new Cabinet. The 65-year-old leader, popularly known as "mama" (maternal uncle) and "paon-paon wale bhaiya" (foot soldier), took oath as part of the Prime Minister's Council of Ministers on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in his over three-decade-long political career.

With his extensive experience in governance and deep connect with the rural populace, Chouhan's appointment as the Union Agriculture Minister is expected to bring fresh impetus to the government's efforts in addressing the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and the farming community. Chouhan, who assiduously cultivated a 'son of the soil' image and identified himself with the socio-economic concerns of farmers, villagers, women, and children in Madhya Pradesh, proved his detractors wrong after being denied the chief minister's post for the fifth time last year.

Mansukh Mandaviya, who served as the union health minister at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, was on Monday appointed as India's new sports minister, replacing Anurag Thakur in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet. The 52-year-old Mandaviya won the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat by defeating his nearest Congress rival Lalit Vasoya by a margin of 3.83 lakh votes. Aside for the ministry youth affairs and sports, Mandaviya was also given charge of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in new cabinet unveiled on Monday.

Mandaviya was entrusted with the health portfolio in the middle of 2021 when the country was battling the COVID-19 crisis. At that time, he had replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was dropped from the Council of Ministers as part of a reshuffle.

The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, directed the allocation of portfolios among the following members of the Union Council of Ministers:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister and also in-charge of: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; All important policy issues; and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

CABINET MINISTERS

1. Raj Nath Singh:Minister of Defence.
2. Amit Shah:Minister of Home Affairs; and Minister of Cooperation.
3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari:Minister of Road Transport and Highways.
4. Jagat Prakash Nadda:Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan:Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Minister of Rural Development.
6. Nirmala Sitharaman:Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.
7. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar:Minister of External Affairs.
8. Manohar Lal:Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs; and Minister of Power.
9. H. D. Kumaraswamy:Minister of Heavy Industries; and Minister of Steel.
10. Piyush Goyal:Minister of Commerce and Industry.
11. Dharmendra Pradhan:Minister of Education.
12. Jitan Ram Manjhi:Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
13. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh:Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
14. Sarbananda Sonowal:Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
15. Dr. Virendra Kumar:Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
16. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu:Minister of Civil Aviation.
17. Pralhad Joshi:Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
18. Jual Oram:Minister of Tribal Affairs.
19. Giriraj Singh:Minister of Textiles.
20. Ashwini Vaishnaw:Minister of Railways; Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
21. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia:Minister of Communications; and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region.
22. Bhupender Yadav:Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
23. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat:Minister of Culture; and Minister of Tourism.
24. Annpurna Devi:Minister of Women and Child Development
25. Kiren Rijiju:Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of Minority Affairs.
26. Hardeep Singh Puri:Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas
27. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya:Minister of Labour and Employment; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.
28. G. Kishan Reddy:Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.
29. Chirag Paswan: Minister of Food Processing Industries.
30. C R Patil:Minister of Jal Shakti.

MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

1. Rao Inderjit Singh:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture.
2. Dr. Jitendra Singh:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space.
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
4. Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayush; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
5. Jayant Chaudhary:Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education.

MINISTERS OF STATE

1. Jitin Prasada:Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
2. Shripad Yesso Naik:Minister of State in the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
3. Pankaj Chaudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.
4. Krishan Pal:Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation.
5. Ramdas Athawale:Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
6. Ram Nath Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
7. Nityanand Rai:Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
8. Anupriya Patel:Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
9. V. Somanna:Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
10. Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani:Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications.
11. Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel:Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
12. Sobha Karandlaje:Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
13. Kirtivardhan Singh:Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs.
14. B. L. Verma:Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
15. Shantanu Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
16. Suresh Gopi:Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism.
17. Dr. L. Murugan:Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
18. Ajay Tamta:Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
19. Bandi Sanjay Kumar:Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
20. Kamlesh Paswan:Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.
21. Bhagirath Choudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
22. Satish Chandra Dubey:Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines.
23. Sanjay Seth:Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
24. Ravneet Singh:Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
25. Durgadas Uikey:Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
26. Raksha Nikhil Khadse:Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
27. Sukanta Majumdar:Minister of State in the Ministry of Education; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
28. Savitri Thakur:Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
29. Tokhan Sahu:Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
30. Raj Bhushan Choudhary:Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
31. Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma:Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.
32. Harsh Malhotra:Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
33. Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya:Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
34. Murlidhar Mohol:Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
35. George Kurian:Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
36. Pabitra Margherita:Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles.

HD Kumaraswamy, the MP from BJP ally Janata Dal (Secular), has been allocated the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Ram Mohan Naidu from BJP's ally Telugu Desam Party, has been appointed the Civil Aviation Minister. The young MP will take over the ministry from Jyotiraditya Scindia.

ML Khattar gets power, Kiren Rijiju parliamentary affairs portfolios; Sarbananda Sonowal to continue as shipping minister.

Nitin Gadkari retains road transport ministry; Dharmendra Pradhan to continue as education minister.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan is new agriculture and rural development minister; J P Nadda gets health ministry.

Suspense over the allocation of portfolios to ministers in PM Modi's cabinet 3.0 has started to fizzle out, with three of the key BJP leaders retaining their ministries. Amit Shah has retained the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Rajnath Singh has retained the Defence Ministry in Modi 3.0. Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari has retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Nirmala Sitharaman has retained the Ministry of Finance and S Jaishankar will continue the charge of leading the Ministry of External Affairs. As such, there is no change in big four ministers - Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs, as BJP has retained them all.

In its first decision, the Modi cabinet has cleared approval for 3 crore PM Awas Yojana houses. This was the first meeting of the Union Cabinet of Modi 3.0 government held at the Prime Minister's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The meeting was attended by ministers of all allies of the NDA.

"It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting today to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families," officials said. The government of India is implementing the PMAY since 2015-16 to provide assistance to eligible rural and urban households for the construction of houses with basic amenities.

Under PMAY, a total of 4.21 crore houses have been completed for the eligible poor families under the housing schemes in the last 10 years. All the houses constructed under PMAY are provided basic amenities like household toilets, LPG connection, electricity connection and functional household tap connection through convergence with other schemes of the central and state governments.

After being sworn in as Prime Minister for the 3rd time, PM Narendra Modi signed his first file authorising release of 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi. This will benefit 9.3 crore farmers and distribute around Rs 20,000 crores. After signing the file, PM Modi said “Ours is a Government fully committed to Kisan Kalyan. It is therefore fitting that the first file signed on taking charge is related to farmer welfare. We want to keep working even more for the farmers and the agriculture sector in the times to come.”

Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance on Monday took potshots at CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar over their share in the new Union ministry led by PM Narendra Modi. At the swearing in ceremony on Sunday, Prataprao Jadhav of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena was sworn in as MoS with independent charge, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP declined a minister of state berth, insisting on a cabinet post.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Monday said the minuscule representation to the two parties in the Modi cabinet has proved that the BJP has shown them their place. This is what you get when you decide to be someone's slaves, Raut told reporters. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said if the Ajit Pawar-led NCP doesn't accept the MoS post, they should forget any cabinet berth in future. Ajit Pawar must have realised albeit late that the BJP has a use and throw policy for its allies, said Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Baramati Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule said she is not surprised over the Ajit Pawar-led NCP not getting a cabinet berth in the Modi cabinet. Sanjay Shirsat, spokesperson of the Shinde-led Sena sought to make light of the opposition criticism, saying there may be some reasons why his party did not get any cabinet berth.

1. Raj Nath Singh
2. Amit Shah
3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari
4. Jagat Prakash Nadda
5. Shivraj Singh Chouhan
6. Nirmala Sitharaman
7. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
8. Manohar Lal
9. H. D. Kumaraswamy
10. Piyush Goyal
11. Dharmendra Pradhan
12. Jitan Ram Manjhi
13. Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh
14. Sarbananda Sonowal
15. Dr. Virendra Kumar
16. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu
17. Pralhad Joshi
18. Jual Oram
19. Giriraj Singh
20. Ashwini Vaishnaw
21. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia
22. Bhupender Yadav
23. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
24. Annpurna Devi
25. Kiren Rijiju
26. Hardeep Singh Puri
27. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya
28. G. Kishan Reddy
29. Chirag Paswan
30. C R Patil

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

1. Rao Inderjit Singh
2. Dr. Jitendra Singh
3. Arjun Ram Meghwal
4. Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao
5. Jayant Chaudhary

Minister of State

Jitin Prasada, Shripad Yesso Naik, Pankaj Chaudhary, Krishan Pal, Ramdas Athawale, Ram Nath Thakur, Nityanand Rai, Anupriya Patel, V. Somanna, Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel, Sobha Karandlaje, Kirtivardhan Singh, B. L. Verma, Shantanu Thakur, Suresh Gopi, Dr. L. Murugan, Ajay Tamta, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Kamlesh Paswan, Bhagirath Choudhary, Satish Chandra Dubey, Sanjay Seth, Ravneet Singh, Durgadas Uikey, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Sukanta Majumdar, Savitri Thakur, Tokhan Sahu, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, Harsh Malhotra, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, Murlidhar Mohol, George Kurian, and Pabitra Margherita.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday his office has become a "catalytic agent" which infuses new energy and dynamism into the system, and claimed that it used to be seen as a big power centre 10 years ago. Addressing staffers of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) after he began this third term, Modi said his only goal is "nation first" and his only motivation "Viksit Bharat", adding that this was his expectation from them as well.

"My every moment is for the country," Modi said, asserting that he has promised to work round the clock to achieve the goal of India becoming a developed country by 2047. The PMO should be for service and it should be a people's PMO and not Modi's, he said, adding that he was not born to rule and he does not think about accumulating power.

The 140 crore people of India are always on his mind and he considers them a form of God, Modi said. In the last three months, Modi said in an apparent reference to the election campaign, he witnessed their strength, dedication and energy for a new resolve. That is why people have again given him the opportunity to serve the country, he added.