Union power minister calls on Mamata

Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) Union Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday held a 40-minute meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat "Nabanna".

Goyal, known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, termed it a "courtesy call".

"I came to attend the review meeting of Coal India Ltd. Being my first visit to the state after becoming the minister, this was a courtesy call to Ms Banerjee," he said. He refused to divulge any further details.

Goyal later left for the state Bharatiya Janata Party office.

This was the first face-to-face between Banerjee and a minister of the Modi government.