Union Minister for Railway Piyush Goyal on Friday said that he made a mistake owing to a “slip of tongue” and mentioned Albert Einstein instead of Isaac Newton referring to his statement on September 12 in a media interaction where he had said “maths never helped Einstein discover gravity.”

“We all get the opportunity to make mistakes. In fact the person whose name I took by mistake, Mr Einstein said and I quote ‘A person who never made a mistake; never tried anything new.’ I am not among those who is afraid of making a mistake,” Mr. Goyal said.

He added that as soon as he realised the mistake he clarified the context in which he made the statement and referred to the need to find new innovative ways to build a $5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years, out of which exports would account for 20% or $1 trillion.

“Unfortunately, the context took a backseat and the mistake was highlighted. I thought I should take this opportunity to accept on a public platform that I made a mistake,” Mr. Goyal, said, at an event in Mumbai to flag off additional Rajdhani services between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Hazarat Nizamuddin in Delhi along with a slew of passenger amenities across suburban stations in Mumbai.

He added that innovation was necessary in the future and failures were a step towards success. “I think mistakes made by anybody will only lead to something better in the future,” he said.

Mr. Goyal, on September 12, told reporters during a media interaction following a meeting with the Board of Trade that people should not be too concerned with GDP maths. “Don’t get into those maths; those maths never helped Einstein discover gravity,” he said. “If he had only gone by structured formulae and what was past knowledge, I don’t think there would have been any innovation in this world,” he added.