New Delhi:
Terming steel as a strong pillar for development, Dharmendra Pradhan, who took charge of the ministry Friday, said it will remain a priority sector for the government.
He has succeeded Chaudhary Birender Singh as the steel minister.
Pradhan, 50, who took charge as the Union minister for the second term, will continue to be the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
“I have been given the duty to look after the steel sector by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which I will fulfil with responsibility. Steel is a strong pillar of development. We have to take this pillar to new heights,” Pradhan said.
He further said that a lot has already been done by his predecessors Chaudhary Birender Singh and Narendra Singh Tomar for the sector and steel will remain a priority sector of the government.
In 2017, the National Steel Policy was launched to ramp up the country’s steel-making capacity to 300 million tonne by 2030-31 and another policy was launched which gives priority to the domestically manufactured steel in government projects.
Son of a former Union Minister of State for Surface Transport Debendra Pradhan, Dharmendra is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
A tough taskmaster in whom Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik saw a potential threat, Pradhan was picked to head the high-stake Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas when Prime Minister Narendra Modi first rode to power in 2014.
He again has been made a Cabinet minister in Modi 2.0 government.
Pradhan, who did not contest the just-concluded elections, was seen touring every nook and corner of Odisha to bolster the poll prospects of BJP candidates.
It was also because of Pradhan’s ceaseless efforts that the BJP made deep in-roads into the Biju Janata Dal-ruled state, eating into the vote-share of Naveen Patnaik-led BJD.
