P Chidambaram was appointed finance minister and Sushilkumar Shinde the home minister in a reshuffle of portfolios in the Union Cabinet today. Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily will hold additional charge of the power ministry vacated by Shinde.
As the new finance minister, Chidambaram is expected to review some decisions taken by predecessor Pranab Mukherjee, including some taxation policies. A new team is expected to be in place in the ministry in the next few days. The terms of the chairmen of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs are over and replacements are to be named. A new economic affairs secretary, Arvind Mayaram, has been named. The name of well-known economist Raghuram Rajan is doing the rounds for the chief economic advisor’s post vacated by Kaushik Basu.
Shinde has been Maharashtra’s chief minister. Moily has vast experience in handling administration. Chidambaram, who has served as finance minister twice earlier, was also part of the then finance minister Manmohan Singh’s ‘dream team’ in 1991.
