Economic ministers take charge to push reforms, growth

New Delhi, May 29: Ministers with the key commerce and industry, petroleum, road transport and highways, and steel portfolios today took charge and made it clear that they "mean business" from the word go, in tandem with better than expected economic growth for 2008-09.
The second innings of the UPA regime at the Centre in which Anand Sharma took charge as Commerce and Industry Minister, while his predecessor Kamal Nath sat on a driving seat of the Ministry for Road Transport, generated a feel good factor and stock market boomed for third day in succession.

Nath made it clear that he would go for wholesome changes in the Ministry to put the road construction in the top gear, while Oil Minister Murli Deora said the issue of freeing petrol and diesel from price control was being considered. "The issue of deregulation is being discussed and it will be put up to the Cabinet for a decision," he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 100-day agenda and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's "perform or perish" advice seemed to have weighed on the opening sound bytes of ministers who took charge.

Pranab Mukherjee had immediately swung into action after taking charge as Finance Minister on Monday and started the process for presenting the Union Budget for 2009-10 in the first week of July. Food Minister Sharad Pawar took decision to ban futures trading of sugar to check prices. PTI