On October 12, 2022, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals which were detailed by Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) during media briefing in New Delhi, Delhi:
i.One time grant of Rs 22,000 crore to 3 PSU OMCs for losses in Domestic LPG
ii.Payment of PLB equivalent to 78 days to railway employees for FY2021-22
iii.Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)
iv.Development of Container Terminal at Tuna-Tekra, Deendayal Port on BOT basis under PPP mode
v.Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Cabinet approves Rs 22,000cr as one time grant to 3 PSU OMCs for losses in Domestic LPG
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) to give one time grant Rs 22000 crore to three Public Sector Undertaking Oil Marketing Companies (PSU OMCs) viz. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
Reasons behind this grant:
i.To help PSU OMCs in continuing their commitment towards Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan
ii.To ensure unhindered domestic LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) supplies
iii.To support the procurement of Make in India products
iv.To help fuel retailers to tackle the under-recoveries during June 2020 and June 2022
Background:
The above 3 PSU OMCs are the suppliers of the Domestic LPG Cylinders at regulated prices. During the period from June 2020 to June 2022, the international prices of LPG increased by around 300%. However, to insulate consumers from these high prices, the cost of domestic LPG was raised by only 72% during this period, means it was not fully passed on to consumers. This led to these 3 PSUs incurring significant losses. Now to overcome these losses, this grant has been made.
Cabinet approves payment of PLB equivalent to 78 days to railway employees for FY2021-22
The Cabinet also gave its nod to disbursement of productivity-linked bonus (PLB) of Rs 1,832.09 crores among 11,27,000 railway employees. This PLB is equivalent to 78 days, and its maximum limit is capped at Rs 17,951.
Key Points:
i.This bonus is an acknowledgement of the work of the railway employees for ensuring uninterrupted movement of essential commodities like food, fertilizer, coal and other items even during the lockdown period.
- It will be paid to various categories, including track maintainers, drivers and guards, station masters, supervisors, technicians, technician helpers, controllers, pointsmen, ministerial staff and other group ‘C’ staff.
ii.In FY 2021-22, the railways achieved incremental freight loading of 184 million tonnes which is the highest ever (Total 1418 million tonnes).
iii.The PLB will also boost the demand in the economy in the upcoming festival season.
Cabinet approves Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)
The Cabinet also approved the central sector scheme, Prime Minister Development Initiative for North-eastern Region (PM-DevINE), which was announced in the Budget 2022. It was approved for the remaining four years of the 15th Finance Commission from FY23 to FY26 with an allocation of Rs 6,600 crore.
- There are other Ministry of DoNER schemes also for the development of the NE region with average size of projects about Rs 12 crore.
About PM-DevINE:
It is a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) with 100% central funding and will be implemented by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER) through North Eastern Council or Central Ministries/ agencies.
- Under this, there will be creation of infrastructure, support industries, social development projects and create livelihood activities for youth and women. This will also create employment generation.
Objectives of PM-DevINE:
i.Fund infrastructure convergently, in the spirit of PM Gati Shakti;
ii.Support social development projects based on felt needs of the NER;
iii.Enable livelihood activities for youth and women;
iv.Fill the development gaps in various sectors.
Cabinet approves development of Container Terminal at Tuna-Tekra, Deendayal Port on BOT basis under PPP mode
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the PM has approved the development of Container Terminal at Tuna-Tekra, Deendayal Port in Gujarat on Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.
- Deendayal Port is one of the 12 major ports in India and is located on the west coast in the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.
Financial Outlay:
Its estimated cost is Rs 4,243.64 crore on the part of the Concessionaire and Rs 296.20 crore is on the part of the Concessioning Authority toward development of common user facilities.
- The concessionaire will be responsible for the design, engineering, financing, procurement, implementation commissioning, operation, management and maintenance of the project.
How will this project be useful?
It will cater to the future growth in container cargo traffic as from 2025, there will be a net gap of 1.88 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit). This closed container terminal will serve the vast hinterland of northern part of India (Jammu and Kashmir-J&K, Uttar Pradesh-UP, Madhya Pradesh-MP and Rajasthan).
Key Points:
i.The Project consists of construction of an off-shore berthing structure for handling three vessels at a time with allied facilities at cost of Rs 4,243.64 crore and handling capacity of 2.19 Million TEUs per annum.
- Initially, the Project will cater 14m draught vessels of 6000 TEUs.
ii.The common Access Channel will be dredged & maintained by the Concessioning Authority at 15.50m to navigate container vessels of 14m draught for 24*7.
Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 gets Cabinet approval
The Union Cabinet also approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which seeks to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
- Through this bill, there will be improvement in governance, enhancement of transparency and accountability in the Multi State Cooperative Societies.
- The Bill will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment.
Key Provisions in Bill:
i.Through this bill, provisions for setting up of the Cooperative Election Authority, Cooperative Information Officer and Cooperative Ombudsman are proposed.
ii.Provisions relating to representation of women and Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) members in the board of co-operative societies have been included to facilitate inclusiveness.
iii.Co-opted directors with experience in the field of banking, management, cooperative management and finance will be appointed to promote professional management.
iv.It is proposed to enhance ease of doing business by reducing the period of registration with a provision for the applicants to seek additional time of two months for rectification of mistakes.
v.It proposes electronic submission and issuance of documents.
Key Points:
i.Former Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar introduced the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha on November 15, 2010. Under the law, the Central Government can appoint a Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies.
ii.As per government data, there are around 8,55,000 cooperatives in India. Of this, 1,77,000 are credit societies, 700,000 are cooperative societies, 17 national-level cooperative unions, and 33 state cooperative banks. There are more than 63,000 active Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) with more than 12 crore members. Around 91 per cent of the villages have cooperatives.
