On December 12, 2025 the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, approved the following proposals
- Conducting the Census of India 2027, the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world.This will be the 16th census in the country and 8th since Independence.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Policy for Auction of Coal Linkages for Seamless, Efficient and Transparent Utilization (Coal SETU) and Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Copra.
Exam Hints:
- Approval 1: Cabinet approved Census of India 2027
- Cost: Rs 11,718.24 Cr
- Phase 1: Houselisting and Housing Census – April to September, 2026
- Phase 2: Population Enumeration (PE) – February 2027
- Digital Census: 1st fully digital census, Self-enumeration
- Approval 2: CCEA approved CoalSETU Window
- Purpose: For all industrial use and exports
- Exemption: Not permitted for resale in the country
- Export quantity: Up to 50% of the coal linkage quantity
- Approval 3: CCEA approves MSP for Copra 2026
- Price: Ball Copra- Rs 12,500 per quintal, Milling Copra – Rs 12,027
- Nodal Agencies: NAFED and NCCF
Cabinet approves plan for conducting Census of India 2027:
Cost: The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 11,718.24 crores (Cr) for conducting the Census of India 2027.
Phases: The Census of India would be conducted in two phases:
- Houselisting and Housing Census – April to September, 2026 and
- Population Enumeration (PE) – February 2027
- For the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh and snow bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and states of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Uttarakhand, PE shall be conducted in September, 2026.
1st Digital Census: This will be India’s first fully digital census, with data collection through mobile application on Android and iPhone Operating System(iOS).
- A dedicated Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) will track operations in real time and a Houselisting Block (HLB) Creator web-map tool will support field supervision.
Self-Enumeration: For the first time, households will fill out and submit their own census forms, instead of a trained enumerator.
Staffing: About 30 lakh field functionaries, including enumerators mostly government teachers, supervisors, master trainers, charge officers, and district census officers, will be deployed, with additional officials appointed at sub-district, district, and state levels by the respective administrations.
Legal Framework: The Census in India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990, which establish the legal basis and guidelines for the exercise.
CCEA Approves ‘CoalSETU Window’ For Industrial Use And Export
On December 12, 2025 the CCEA approved the ‘CoalSETU(Seamless, Efficient & Transparent Utilisation)’ window to facilitate auction-based allocation of coal linkages for various industrial uses and exports, ensuring equitable access and efficient utilization of coal resources.
Expansion: The policy permits long-term allocation of coal linkages through auctions for all industrial uses and exports by introducing a new window, CoalSETU, under the Non-Regulated Sector(NRS) Linkage Auction Policy, 2016, allowing any domestic coal consumer to participate in linkage auctions.
- Coking coal shall not be offered under this window, and traders will not be permitted to participate.
NRS Coal Linkage Policy: Under the current policy, all new coal linkages for NRS sectors, cement, steel (coking), sponge iron, aluminium, etc. (excluding fertilizer/urea) and their Captive Power Plants (CPPs), are allocated through auctions, with linkages restricted to specified end users.
Existing Policy: The existing policy limits coal linkage auctions to specific sub-sectors and end uses, restricting broader industrial participation.
Usage Norms: The coal linkage obtained under this window shall be for own consumption, export of coal, or any other purpose (including coal washing) except resale in the country.
- Coal linkage holders will be eligible to export coal upto 50% of their coal linkage quantity.
Union Cabinet approves MSP for Copra for 2026 season:
The CCEA approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for 2026 season.
MSP: The MSP for 2026 has been fixed at Rs 12,027 per quintal for milling copra and Rs 12,500 per quintal for ball copra, up by Rs 445 and Rs 400 respectively from the previous season.
- Compared to MSP in 2014 (Rs 5,250 for milling and Rs 5,500 for ball copra), this represents an increase of 129% and 127% respectively.
Government Policy: To ensure remunerative returns to farmers, the Union Budget 2018-19 mandated that MSP for all mandated crops be set at not less than 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.
Nodal Agencies: National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for procurement of copra under Price Support Scheme (PSS).
MSP Determination: The government fixes MSP for major agricultural products annually based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), which submits annual price policy reports for five commodity groups: kharif crops, rabi crops, sugarcane, raw jute, and copra.
