In his biggest Cabinet reshuffle since 2019, Prime Minister Narendra has inducted some new faces to his team. Some of the ministers who took the oath have studied from foreign universities such as Harvard, Wharton or Stanford.
Amongst the new faces to be inducted is BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, Ashwini Vaishnaw who will be the new Railways Minister replacing the 55-year-old Piyush Goyal. He will head the Ministries of Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology as well.
The 50-year-old's appointment comes following the particularly surprising exit of Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Profile of Ashwini Vaishnaw
The 50-year-old has an MBA from Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, and M Tech from IIT Kanpur.
MP from Odisha, Ashwini Vaishnaw is a former IAS officer of the 1994 batch and handled important responsibilities for over 15 years.
Vaishnaw served as a Collector in Odisha's Balasore and Cuttack districts.
He was particularly known for his contribution to the PPP (public-private partnership) framework in Infrastructure.
Post that he has held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.
According to Vaishnaw's Linkedin profile, he has 17 years of experience in leadership positions in infrastructure development.
He developed a 5 mtpa coal import terminal, privatised container business, developed cruise terminal, three mooring dolphins, and implemented ERP at Goa Port.
He was awarded President's Silver Medal, Commendation by National Human Rights Commission.
Ashwini Vaishnaw also did a stint in the PMO when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
He worked in Odisha till 2003, when he was appointed as Deputy Secretary in the office of then Prime Minister Vajpayee.
