New Delhi, January 23: Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley is likely to miss the interim budget due to a surgery and Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has got his second stint as Finance Minister.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley underwent a surgery at a hospital in New York on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday citing sources. He has been advised at least two weeks rest by the doctors, they added.
Jaitley, 66, had travelled to the US on January 13. He underwent tests for major illness this week.
On Wednesday, Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was given the additional charge of Finance Ministry, in view of the indisposition of Arun Jaitley, nine days ahead of the interim Budget. The BJP-led NDA government will be presenting its last Budget on February 1.
Speaking a fortnight ahead of the Budget, Jaitley underlined that there have been precedents of interim budgets containing major policy announcements to tackle an urgent situation.
