He took oaths before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat.
He was among several State Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed today.
Chamal Rajapaksa is the third of the Rajapaksa family to receive a top post in the new Government.
His brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa is President while Mahinda Rajapaksa is Prime Minister.
The list of the newly appointed State Ministers and Deputy Ministers is as follows:
- Chamal Rajapaksa - State Minister of Defence
- Vasudeva Nanayakkara - State Minister of Water Supply and Drainage
- Gamini Lokuge - State Minister of Urban Development
- Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene - State Minister of Irrigation and Rural Development
- S.B. Dissanayake - State Minister of Land & Land Development
- John Seneviratne - State Minister of Economic Affairs and Policy Development
- Mahinda Samarasinghe - State Minister of Public Administration and Internal Affairs
- C.B. Ratnayake - State Minister of Railway Services
- Lakshman Yapa abeywardene - State Minister of Information and Communication Technology
- Susantha Punchinilame - State Minister of Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Development
- Anura Priyadarshana Yapa - State Minister of Trade and Consumer Welfare
- Susil Premajayantha - State Minister of International Co-operation
- Priyankara Jayaratne - State Minister of Indigenous Medicine
- Ranjith Siyambalapitiya - State Minister of Education Service
- Mahindananda Aluthgamage - State Minister of Electricity
- Duminda Dissanayake - State Minister of Youth Affairs
- Rohitha Abeygunawardene - State Minister of Power & Energy
- Dayasiri Jayasekara - State Minister of Industries
- Lasantha Alagiyawanna - State Minister of Public Management and Accounting
- Keheliya Rambukwella - State Minister of Investment Promotions
- Arundika Fernando - State Minister of Tourism
- Thilanga Sumathipala - State Minister of Technology & Innovations
- Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva - State Minister of Human Rights & Legal Reforms
- Vijitha Berugoda - State Minister of Women and Child Affairs
- Roshan Ranasinghe - State Minister of Mahaweli Development
- Janaka Wakkumbura - State Minister of Export Agriculture