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.

Centrally, I cannot interfere in states.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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 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.

People have seen the Modi government's track record, and now they believe that if we say something, it will happen.

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.

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.

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

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.

For me, as the Government of India, the interest of the poorest of the poorest is paramount.