Piyush Goyal

Power for all includes people who are interested in getting a connection. It cannot be for people who don't want the connection. Having said that, I am confident everybody will apply for power once they are sure that they will not be short-charged.

I'm not crying over surplus capacity... Surplus capacity is good for India. Surplus capacity means we can get more investors, can get more households and promise them 24/7 power.

I am still fairly confident we will come out better than the West in terms of our overall development versus damage.

Western countries have gone through their development cycle and enjoyed the fruits of ruining the environment over many years and are now giving us homilies and pontificating on responsibilities to the environment. I think they need to look inward.

We need to draw up a regime where government can be an enabler for manufacturing to compete at good quality and prices.

Solar growth will support landowners to derive income and solar industry to build their business.

The 100 gigawatt target for solar should not be a constraint. India won't stop at 100 GW.

I believe investigative agencies should be run in an autonomous manner, and there shouldn't be any interference from the government's side.

When PM goes for a foreign visit, he represents a country and not the party.

I am a happier person living in a country which has surplus of everything rather than shortages.

Extra capacity makes manufacturing competitive, keeps pricing in control.

Foreign and domestic investors will come only when they know that you have enough power.

PM Modi has provided visionary leadership with his focus on the welfare of the poor and inclusive nature taking along his whole team, including states, parties, all schools of thought, all sections of society.

I have told many times I am always a student willing to learn new things.

I believe if we simplify the process of tariff-fixing with lesser tariff slabs and rationalise the process, it will reduce corruption, and simultaneously, it will enable supply of adequate and cheap power to the poor as well as to farmers.

Energy is not a political issue for the Modi government. It is our commitment to provide electricity to every household of the country.

It's equal opportunity for all, and we don't play favourites.

I am a tough minister.

Prime Minister Modi keeps challenging the system to keep performing better and better. He sets aggressive targets, and the whole system has to act.

When you give a good offer, people take it.

Renewable energy is not more expensive than fossil fuel when you factor in life-cycle costs.

24/7 power is going to happen; it is not a question of possible or impossible.

I am a person always with an open mind.

I trust the regulatory mechanism; it is a fair and independent mechanism, and the politicians and government do not interfere with the regulators.

My father studied under a street light in a small town in Haryana.

India doesn't take responsibility for the problems that the world is facing because of thermal coal.

You have to decide that you will be the best.

Wind developers have realised the importance of transparent method of price discovery, which was demonstrated in the solar sector. They realise that bidding brings in efficiency, and tariff is right-sized.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are looking to make India self-reliant in terms of power requirement, along with providing carbon-free sources of power, thus improving India's position globally.

I do not think the Nobel institution gives you a certificate that everything you say is always right.

If you are moving the informal economy into the formal economy, and if the transactions which for years were never reported as part of GDP are now transacted through banking channels, it will only add to the GDP, not reduce the GDP.

I feel there is huge potential for India and the U.K. to work together both on the technology space and on the investment space.

My solar energy programme alone will generate about a million jobs.

I can't tell my people that you will get power only from 6 A.M. to 5 P.M., and after that, we live in darkness. You need 24-hour power; you need a baseload, and that baseload for India is coal. We are looking at clean coal technologies to reduce the impact of pollution.

Western countries can cut down coal and replace it by renewables; I will need to have more coal.

I want to reignite the interest in hydro-electric investments.

Our pollution out of carbon emissions is still very, very low compared to the world.

The Modi government believes that the industrialist, the capitalist, has to pay for the assets of the government which belong to the people of India.

I can't tell the people of India that we'll burden you with high costs because the West has polluted the world, now India will pay for it. Not acceptable to us.

UDAY is meant for financial and operational turnaround of discoms.

Indians have become very demanding. Gone are the days where you could get away with power outages.

I like to set aggressive targets; without them, you will get ordinary performances.

I am very friendly with the people of India, and corporates are also a part of that.

I will reach out to all states uniformly... I can assure you I will take two steps for every step they extend.

Centrally, I cannot interfere in states.

Ramifications of small decisions can be pretty large.

We cannot have a system that everything can be passed on to the final consumer in the garb of cost being recovered without being sensitive to their own problems and affordability.

As more and more money is coming into the formal economy, one can look at more attractive tax rates and lower tax slabs. Even if half the people who were in the informal sector move in to the formal economy and more taxes get collected, more money can be spent on the welfare.

I have very often held a view - and I am public about it - that if you run your operations inefficiently, you can't expect your consumer to pay for your inefficiencies.

If inflation is brought down, interest rates will fall. Once rates fall, we have the opportunity to maybe achieve the goal of 'housing for all' faster; take roads, infrastructure to India's interiors.