Nitin Gadkari gets MSME portfolio in Modi govt 2.0, retains Transports and Highways ministry

In the new list of cabinet ministers, Nitin Gadkari retains the Ministry of Transports and Highways and will also handle the Ministry of Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The National Democratic Alliance swept the General Elections 2019 with a resounding victory, and Narendra Modi is the new Prime Minister of India, his second term in the office. He was sworn in on Thursday along with other Union ministers, including BJP president Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

In total, 24 Cabinet ministers, and nine Ministers of State (Independent Charge) took the oath of office and secrecy. The newly formed Council retains several previous Cabinet Ministers like Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Smriti Irani.

Gadkari won the Nagpur seat again by defeating Congress candidate and BJP rebel Nana Patole by a margin of more than two lakh votes. In 2014, he contested for General Elections for the first time and won from Nagpur constituency.

Gadkari joined politics as a student activist for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad (ABVP) in 1976. He went on to become the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha when he was 24 years old and also became the secretary of the BJP in Nagpur city.

His victory in 1992 in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation established his political career as a member of the BJP. He served as the Minister of Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and served as the president of the Maharashtra BJP.  

Gadkari was also appointed as BJP President in 2009 in a tough phase when the party had lost two consecutive general elections. He resigned as party President in 2013.

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the Indian economy and accounts for more than 45 percent of the total manufacturing output of the country. There are approximately 40 million MSMEs in India, which ranks the second largest, after China. These enterprises account for more than 40 percent of the total exports of the nation and contribute nine percent to the GDP.

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