•Amitabh Sinha: How do you plan to manage all the portfolios assigned to you?

Business as usual is not difficult. What requires time is a qualitative change in the way things work. I would like to concentrate on administrative reforms, criminal justice reform and judicial reforms. I also oversee the CBI; there are over 8,000 cases and something as simple as a case of bribery takes as long as 30 years to be disposed of. Private sector people are being harassed because someone paid a small bribe to a government official. Some analysis needs to be done on how much time is being wasted on small cases while the big fish get out.

•Neha Sinha: Is India going to push for nuclear energy for clean development?

Nuclear energy is a clean energy, we have mastered the technology. We have sorted out the fuel problem also by importing it, thanks to the nuclear deal. We want to set up nuclear reactors, which we want to import. We have already signed up with the Russians and the French and we are looking at the US also. We are looking to set up nuclear parks. One already exists in Tamil Nadu, the next one is coming up in Maharashtra and the third site will be identified soon. Some people want us to amend our Atomic Energy Act to include private sector participation. There is no political consensus on whether the private sector should be allowed into the field of nuclear energy generation. It will be a political decision.

... contd.