Piyush Goyal appointed BJP national treasurer in major organizational overhaul

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal as the national treasurer as part of a major organizational restructuring.

The new team of national office-bearers announced by BJP president Nitin Nabin brings the senior cabinet minister back into a key organisational role while he continues to head the commerce and industry ministry. The appointments take effect immediately. The much-awaited organizational reset comes about eight months after Nabin took over as the party president.

Goyal had previously held the charge of the national treasurer from March 2010 until the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) assumed office in May 2014.

In taking on the role, Goyal follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Ved Prakash Goyal, who served as the BJP’s national treasurer for over two decades and was the Union shipping minister from 2001 to 2003 in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Goyal’s previous stint as treasurer ended shortly before he joined the NDA government in May 2014 as minister of state (independent charge) for power, coal and new and renewable energy. He was subsequently given charge of the railway ministry and later held additional charge of the finance and corporate affairs ministries, presenting the interim budget in February 2019 when then finance minister Arun Jaitley was unwell. Goyal holds an all-India second rank in chartered accountancy and secured second rank in law from Mumbai University.

The BJP’s new organisational team includes 13 national vice-presidents, eight national general secretaries and 16 national secretaries. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Ram Madhav, Baijayant Panda and Manpreet Singh Badal are among those appointed national vice-presidents, while Smriti Irani, Vinod Tawde and Biplab Kumar Deb are among the national general secretaries. B.L. Santhosh has been appointed national general secretary (organisation), while Rajesh Mangal has been named national joint treasurer.

Queries sent to the union ministry of commerce and industry remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

Steering trade and industry

Goyal continues to oversee the commerce and industry ministry, having been closely involved in India’s trade negotiations, export strategy and industrial policy. He has been a key interlocutor in India’s negotiations with major trading partners and in the implementation of production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes across sectors.

Under his leadership at the commerce ministry, India signed key trade agreements including the free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE and Oman, as well as the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). Several other major deals are currently under negotiation, including pacts with Chile, the Maldives, Canada, Mexico, Eurasia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the long-awaited trade agreement with the US. In the past three years, India has signed nine FTAs covering 38 developed economies.

In May, Goyal noted that with India's network of FTAs now covering over two-thirds of global trade, the country is pushing toward an ambitious $1 trillion export target this fiscal year, following a record $863 billion in 2025-26. He highlighted that exports have grown by over 70% over the past six years. In June, he said India expects to execute another three to four major trade agreements in the coming year and operationalize all nine recently concluded deals within 10 months.

The ministry has a key role to play as India navigates ongoing global geopolitical volatility, including tensions in West Asia and the Russia-Ukraine war. Under Goyal's leadership, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) launched ambitious PLI schemes across 14 key sectors, including automobiles, mobile phones, electronics, solar energy, and textiles.

Previous stints

Before taking charge of commerce and industry, Goyal served as minister for power, coal and new and renewable energy and later as minister for railways and coal. During his tenure in the key energy ministries, he oversaw the implementation of the Ujala programme, which the government describes as the world’s largest LED bulb distribution scheme. He was awarded the Carnot Prize in 2018 by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania for his contribution to energy policy and energy efficiency.

During his tenure as power minister, Goyal was credited with key energy reforms, including the 24x7 power supply plan, the clean energy push, the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (Uday) scheme to revive debt-ridden discoms, and expanded grid access through the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

As interim finance minister, Goyal presented the interim budget for 2019-20, which included the announcement of the flagship PM-KISAN scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan pension scheme and income tax relief for individuals with taxable income of up to ₹5 lakh.