On February 26, 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals:
i.Offering of coal via common e-auction window
ii.Implementation of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with a budget of Rs 1,600 crore for 5 years
CCEA approves offering of coal via common e-auction window
CCEA has approved the offering of coal (dry fuel) by coal companies via a common e-auction window of CIL (Coal India Limited)/Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) which will replace the sector specific auctions.
- This approval will cater to all the sectors viz. Power Sector and Non Regulated Sector (NRS) including traders, along with employment generation potential.
- Clubbing of the e-auction windows will not involve any additional cost to the coal companies.
Key Points:
i.Transportation– Coal offered through the e-auction will have a default option of transportation through Rail mode. However, coal may be lifted by the consumers through other modes too depending upon their choice without paying any additional charges or discount to the coal companies.
ii.Long term Coal allotment– Long term allotment of coal by CIL/SCCL to their own gasification plants is allowed at prices by the coal company. This allotment is subject to the condition that it should not affect the supplies against existing coal linkages.
- The taxes, duties, royalty etc will be paid by the coal companies on the notified prices of coal for the power sector.
Benefits of e-auction window for coal offering:
i.Single rate for all the consumers i.e. one rate (one grade, one rate).
ii.Elimination of discretion by coal companies of allocating coal to different sectors.
- This will attract more consumers towards domestic coal.
iii.Enable coal companies to establish coal gasification plants by availing coal from their own mines.
- It will help in developing clean coal technology in the country, and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of coal usage.
- In the coal block allocation mechanism, coal gasification is being encouraged through incentives like rebates in the revenue share.
iv.Reduction in coal import– CIL aims at producing 1 BT (Billion Tonne) coal by 2023-24. This will result in better availability of domestic coal at better price, resulting in a decrease in coal import, and demand of domestic coal is expected to increase.
Need behind this e-auction:
The coal market is segmented and regulated resulting in many different market-discovered rates for the same grade of coal in each segment of the market. Now, with the e-auction window, coal of any particular grade will be sold in the market at one rate. This will also surpass conventional coal use with clean coal technologies.
CCEA approves national roll-out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with Rs 1,600 crore for 5 years
CCEA also approved the national roll-out of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which was launched by the PM Narendra Modi in September 2021. It is the mission of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) with a budget of Rs 1600 crore for five years.
- It will be implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA).
- ABDM is on the lines of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the Indian Government.
About ABDM:
Under this, citizens can create their Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) numbers to which their digital health records can be linked. This means, it is an online platform of healthcare ecosystem by collating a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services etc. This will also improve clinical decision making by healthcare providers.
- Click here to read more about ABDM.
- The pilot of the ABDM was completed in the six Union Territories (UTs) of Ladakh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Its technology platform is developed by the NHA.
- As on February 24, 2022, 17,33,69,087 ABHA have been created and 10,114 doctors and 17,319 health facilities have been registered in the ABDM.
Recent Related News:
i.The Cabinet approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development for continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) beyond March 2021 till March 2024 as per the existing norms. Under this extension the target is to complete the remaining 155.75 lakh houses from the cumulative target of 2.95 crore houses in rural areas.
ii.The cabinet has approved an incentive scheme with an estimated financial outlay of Rs 1,300 crore (for 1 year i.e. FY22) to promote RuPayDebit cards and low-value (up to Rs 2,000) BHIM-UPI (Bharat Interface for Money – Unified Payments Interface) transactions (Person-to-Merchant (P2M)) in India.
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW):
Union Minister– Mansukh Mandaviya (Rajya Sabha Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS)- Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar (Dindori, Maharashtra)
