HD Kumaraswamy becomes new Minister of Heavy Industries

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy has been appointed as the new Minister of Heavy Industries. He has also been given the portfolio of the steel ministry.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries is involved in the development of the heavy engineering and machine tools Industry, heavy electrical engineering industry and automotive industry. It administers around 40 Central Public Sector Enterprises and their subsidiaries, and four autonomous bodies including the Automotive Research Association of India, Pune, and the National Automotive Board.

The ministry handles two production-linked incentive schemes related to the automobile sector – the PLI for the Automobiles and Auto Components industry and the PLI for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery storage.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries also takes care of the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024, which provides subsidies for electric two and three-wheelers. The first and second phases of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle (FAME) scheme were also handled by the ministry.

Mahendra Nath Pandey was the previous minister of heavy industries. However, he was not elected back to the Lok Sabha this time as the BJP leader lost to Samajwadi Party’s Birendra Singh by a margin of 21,565 votes from the Chandauli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Kumaraswamy has been the chief minister of Karnataka twice and MLA for five times in the past. He is now an MP from the Mandya constituency in Karnataka. JD(S) became part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance last year.

Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, who won from the Narsapuram constituency from Andhra Pradesh, has been appointed as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.

Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari will continue as the Minister of Road Transport and Highways while Hardeep Singh Puri will continue as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.