Shripad Naik


Shripad Yesso Naik is an Indian politician.
He is the member of parliament from North Goa constituency, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party. He's held the role since 1999. He is currently Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, and previously held a number of other ministerial positions.
He was named Minister of State of the Ministry of AYUSH in 2014. He was appointed Minister of State for Defence in 2019. He was also the union minister of state for Health and Family Welfare and the minister of state for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India,.

Early life

Shripad Yesso Naik was born on 4 October 1952 in Adpai, Portuguese Goa.

Political career

Parliament

In 1999, Naik was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from North Goa constituency in Goa. As of 2019, he had held his seat in this constituency consistently, winning in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections. As of 2019, he was a member of the 17th Lok Sabha. In the 2014 Lok Sabha Election, he won with a margin of 105,000 votes, considered very high for the small state of Goa.
In Mar. 2024, he was also a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from North Goa for the sixth time in a row. He had held the position since '99, keeping it through a number of name changes and different parties' support. Also in 2025, he was a North Goa MP.

Minister roles

Further, as advised by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President has appointed Naik as Minister for Culture and Tourism in the 16th Lok Sabha. He was one of probable candidates for Goa CM while Manohar Parrikar made as Union/Central minister.
Naik was appointed Minister of State of the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, on 9 November 2014. On 25 March 2016, Naik publicly stated he had access to research which proved that diseases such as cancer could be cured by yoga. He further stated that his Ministry was a year away from granting an endorsement to such techniques and research. The statement was challenged by medical researchers, scholars and doctors, who advocated caution in claiming a cure to cancer on the basis of unproven and unpublished research with no scientific evidence.
Naik continued as Minister of State for AYUSH and was appointed Minister of State for Defence on 31 May 2019.
In Jul. 2021 he was named Union Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways, which he was until June 5, 2024.
In June 2024 he was appointed Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy. At the FICCI Green Hydrogen Summit in 2025, he stated India aimed to capture close to 10% of global green hydrogen demand.

Awards

Naik received the Samaraj Ratna Award on 18 August 2016.

2021 car accident

Naik was in an accident on the evening of 11 January 2021 in Ankola, Karnataka. His car driver was traveling en route from Yellapur to Gokarna when they were reported to have lost control at the wheel on the ghat section, causing the car to go turtle into a ditch. Due to the accident, Naik's wife and his personal secretary suffered grievous injuries, and died while undergoing treatment in the hospital. Naik was severely injured.