Cabinet reshuffle 2017: As it happened

Nine new ministers from diverse backgrounds and rich administrative experiences are expected to be inducted into Modi's Council of Ministers. Four more Union ministers are likely to be promoted today.

New Delhi: Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday promoted and appointed as India's Defence Minister in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who elevated three others to the Cabinet and brought in nine new faces including four former bureaucrats in a reshuffle-cum-expansion of his ministry based on performance.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal, also promoted from Minister of State with an independent charge to the Cabinet, got the railways portfolio, from which Suresh Prabhu was shifted to Commerce and Industry that was with Sitharaman. Prabhu had offered to quit after a major rail accident in Uttar Pradesh claimed 23 lives last month.

The promoted ministers and the new faces were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

Here are the LIVE updates: 

03 September 2017

16:25 PM

Santosh Gangwar appointed as the new Labour and Employment Minister.

14:16 PM

Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore appointed new Sports Minister.

14:15 PM

Giriraj Singh is now Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

13:58 PM

Mahesh Sharma loses Tourism department, Vijay Goel loses Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

13:56 PM

Suresh Prabhu appointed as Minister of Commerce and Industry.

13:51 PM

Ashwini Kumar Choubey gets MoS Health and Family Welfare; Anant Kumar Hegde appointed MoS Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

13:50 PM

Vijay Goel to be MoS Parliamentary Affairs and MoS Statistics and Program Implementation.

13:48 PM

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar retains Rural Development Ministry, also gets Ministry of Mines.

13:38 PM

Arun Jaitley to keep Finance Portfolio and Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

13:38 PM

RK Singh gets Ministry of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

13:37 PM

Alphons Kannanthanam is MoS (Independent Charge) Ministry of Tourism and MoS Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

13:35 PM

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also gets Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ministry

13:34 PM

Uma Bharti retains Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

13:33 PM

Piyush Goyal to be the next Railway Minister.

13:33 PM

Nitin Gadkari gets additional charge of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development Ganga Rejuvenation.

13:33 PM

Hardeep Puri to be Minister of State Urban Development Ministry.

13:17 PM

Departments of Water Resources and River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation likely to go to Nitin Gadkari. 

Gadkari will continue as Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister.

13:17 PM

Smriti Irani to retain Information and Broadcasting Ministry: Sources

13:11 PM

Nirmala Sitharaman handed over Defence Ministry. 

She is the second woman Defence Minister after Indira Gandhi.

12:20 PM

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar tweets: 

"Congratulations to all the new Cabinet Ministers & MoS-es who took oath. Under PM @narendramodi ji, they will take India to great heights."

12:04 PM

BJP president Amit Shah congratulates new ministers. 

"Congrats to all newly sworn-in ministers. I am sure they will leave no stone unturned in realising PM @narendramodi's dream of a #NewIndia," he tweeted.

12:01 PM

Here's the full list of the new ministers:

Cabinet ministers

Dharmendra Pradhan
Piyush Goyal
Nirmala Sitharaman
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Ministers of State:

Shiv Pratap Shukla
Ashwini Kumar Choubey
Dr. Virendra Kumar
Anantkumar Hegde
Raj Kumar Singh
Hardeep Singh Puri
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Dr. Satya Pal Singh
Alphons Kannanthanam

11:52 AM

Arun Jaitley to keep Finance Ministry, likely to give up Defence.

11:50 AM

After being promoted to cabinet rank Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says, "Our duty is to match up to expectations of PM Modi. We pledge to carry our duties honestly."

11:49 AM

Suresh Prabhu posts 'thank you' message to his colleagues on Twitter: 

"Thanks to all 13 Lacs+ rail family for their support,love,goodwill.I will always cherish these memories with me.Wishing u all a great life."

Thanks to all 13 Lacs+ rail family for their support,love,goodwill.I will always cherish these memories with me.Wishing u all a great life

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) September 3, 2017

11:48 AM

PM Narendra Modi congratulates all those on his new and improved Council of ministers.

He tweeted: 

I congratulate all those who have taken oath today. Their experience & wisdom will add immense value to the Council of Ministers.

"I congratulate my colleagues @dpradhanbjp, @PiyushGoyal, @nsitharaman and @naqvimukhtar on joining the Union Cabinet."

11:48 AM

Piyush Goyal replaces Suresh Prabhu as Union Railway Minister.

11:03 AM

RJD chief Lalu Yadav takes a dig at Nitish Kumar" over Union Cabinet reshuffle.

"They didn't even get invites (oath ceremony). One who leaves his people won't be taken in by others. It's Nitish Kumar's fate." 

11:02 AM

Alphons Kannanthanam takes oath as Minister of State.

Oath-ceremony ends. National anthem played to mark the end of the ceremony.

10:59 AM

Satyapal Singh takes oath as Minister of State.

Satya Pal Singh takes oath as Minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/CNip2QNctW

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:57 AM

Gajendra Singh takes oath as Minister of State.

10:55 AM

Hardeep Singh Puri takes oath as Minister of State.

Hardeep Singh Puri takes oath as minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/RdH9zm2dtl

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:54 AM

Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Arrah, RK Singh takes oath as Minister of State.

RK Singh takes oath as minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/tYcNR4o42w

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:53 AM

Anant Kumar Hegde takes oath as Minister of State.

Anant Kumar Hegde takes oath as minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/nzn0rhPFo4

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:53 AM

Virendra Kumar takes oath as Minister of State.

Virendra Kumar takes oath as minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/Kc2vxdkZQS

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:51 AM

Ashwini Choubey takes oath as Minister of State.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey takes oath as minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/4Y3Em3wJtq

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:45 AM

Minister of States begin taking oath.

Shiv Pratap Shukla first to take oath as MoS.

Shiv Pratap Shukla takes oath as Minister #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/XhA5iP3DHC

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:44 AM

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi promoted to Cabinet post, takes oath

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi takes oath #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/YnMrIZuCfk

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:42 AM

Nirmala Sitharaman elevated to Cabinet post, takes oath

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman takes oath #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/6acB2Dpe3e

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:42 AM

Union Minister Piyush Goyal takes oath as Cabinet minister.

10:37 AM

Swearing-in ceremony begins.

Dharmendra Pradhan first to take oath, promoted to Cabinet rank.

10:36 AM

President Ram Nath Kovind arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan for swearing-in ceremony.

10:33 AM

One elderly person rushed to a hospital from the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a stretcher after she fainted. 

The woman was later identified as the mother-in-law of Piyush Goyal.

10:21 AM

PM Narendra Modi arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan for swearing-in ceremony.

10:18 AM

Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Dharmendra Pradhan at Rashtrapati Bhavan; oath taking ceremony to begin shortly.

Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Dharmendra Pradhan at Rashtrapati Bhavan, oath taking ceremony to begin shortly pic.twitter.com/cfuYpSjryq

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:18 AM

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Narendra Singh Tomar at oath-taking ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Narendra Singh Tomar at the oath taking ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/foYoR7U4Zj

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:07 AM

Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at oath-taking ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan 

Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at the Oath taking ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/x9gkvVNO3q

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

10:07 AM

Watch live streaming: 

#WATCH live via ANI FB: Oath taking ceremony from President House https://t.co/3mo97GEPcV #cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/KUyfvdMVFa

— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2017

09:50 AM

Nine new ministers and others to be elevated leave PM Modi's 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence, head to Rashtrapati Bhavan

09:48 AM

BJP leader KJ Alphons says, "Thrilled, I was not expecting this. Great surprise!"

09:47 AM

Sushma Swaraj to retain External Affairs ministry: Sources

09:41 AM

Arun Jaitley likely to retain Finance, Defense: Sources

09:38 AM

New portfolios of ministers to be inducted into PM Narendra Modi's Cabinet to be announced shortly.

09:33 AM

BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal says, "Have always accomodate allies. Allies are an integral part of NDA."

09:33 AM

PM Narendra Modi's breakfast meet with nine ministers ends.

09:29 AM

BJP president Amit Shah arrives at PM Narendra Modi's residence.

09:21 AM

Shiv Sena to skip swearing-in ceremony. 

Sena leader and Union Minister Anant Geete to skip the oath ceremony. 

09:18 AM

BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri expresses gratitude to PM Narendra Modi: 

"I am grateful to the PM for making me a part of his team."

09:14 AM

Our National President had already made it clear, so no question of me or anyone from JDU joining cabinet: JDU leader VN Singh

09:12 AM

08:53 AM

Four ministers set to be promoted to cabinet rank: MoS Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

08:46 AM

Talking to ANI, RK Singh said,"I thank the PM for expressing confidence in my ability. Portfolio has not been decided yet."