Cabinet Approvals On May 16 2018

On May 16 2018, Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the following initiaves:

Cabinet approves enhancement of budget for implementation of Network for Spectrum for Defence Services

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for enhancement of budget for the implementation of Network for Spectrum for Defence Servces by Rs. 11,330 crore .

• This is done over the already allotted Rs.13,334 crore on july 2012 for the release of spectrum over and above the previous mark.
• The project is being implemented by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and will be completed in 24 months.
• The Network for Spectrum  (NFS) project will boost the communication capabilities of the Defence Forces in a major way leading to enhanced national operational preparedness.  The project will also have forward linkages to other related industries such as telecom equipment manufacturing and other telecommunication related services.

Cabinet approves Corpus for Micro Irrigation Fund with NABARD under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today has approved setting up of a dedicated “Micro Irrigation Fund” (MIF) with NABARD under Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (PMKSY) for an initial Corpus of Rs.5,000 crore .
• The approval shall have Pan India coverage. With the operation of MIF, it is expected that the States which are lagging behind in adoption of Micro Irrigation would also be encouraged to take advantage of the fund for incentivizing farmers as being done by the good performing States. Besides, community driven and innovative projects to be taken up by the States would bring additional coverage of Micro Irrigation.

Other Details relating to the approval:

i. The allocation of Rs. 2,000 crore and Rs. 3,000 crore will be utilised during 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively. NABARD will extend the loan to State Governments during this period.  Borrowings from NABARD shall be paid back in 7 years including the grace period of two years.

ii. The lending rate under MIF has been proposed at 3% lower than the cost of raising the fund by NABARD.

iii. This cost shall be met from the ongoing scheme of PMKSY-PDMC by amending the existing guidelines

iv. The total financial implication on interest subvention comes to about Rs 750 crore.

The Advantages of the approval:

i. The dedicated Micro Irrigation Fund would add to the efforts of Per Drop More Crop Component (PDMC) of Pradhan MantriKrishi SinchayeeYojana in an effective and timely manner.

ii. With the additional investment for micro irrigation accessing MIF, innovative composite/ commodity/ community/ cluster based micro irrigation projects/ proposals may bring about 10 lakh ha.

iii. The Fund will facilitate States to mobilize resources for their initiatives, including additional (top up subsidy) in implementation of PMKSY-PDMC to achieve the annual target of about 2 Million ha/year during the remaining period of 14^thFinance Commission under Per Drop More Crop Component of PMKSY.

Pradhn Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana:

♦ Aimed at better improvement of farm productivity and to expand cultivation area the scheme was launched in 2015. With an initial corpus of Rs. 5300 cr for a period of 5 years.

♦ The goal of the scheme is to minimize usage of water and to enhance per crop water usage .

♦ The slogan for this scheme is ‘ more crop, per drop’.

Cabinet approves establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation at Bhopal

• The Union Cabinet Chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) at Bhopal ,Madhya Pradesh .It will be a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
• The cost of the project is Rs. 179.54 cr for the first 3 years which  includes non-recurring expenditure of Rs. 128.54 crore and recurring expenditure of Rs. 51 crore.
• NIMHR will be the first of its kind in the country in the area of mental health rehabilitation. The main objectives of the NIMHR are to provide rehabilitation services to the persons with mental illness, capacity development in the area of mental health rehabilitation, policy framing and advanced research in mental health rehabilitation.
• The Institute will have nine Departments/Centres and will conduct 12 courses to offer diploma, certificate, graduate, post graduate, M.Phil degrees in the area of mental health rehabilitation. Within a span of 5 years, the student intake of the institute in various courses is expected to be over 400.
• Apart from these the Union Cabinet has also approved the proposal to create 3 Joint Secretary level posts, which include one post of Director of the Institute and two posts of Professors.

Cabinet approves strengthening the mechanism for resolution of commercial disputes of Central Public Sector Enterprises

The Union Cabinet Chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has has approved the strengthening of the mechanism for resolution of commercial disputes of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and also between CPSEs and different Government organizations & institutions.

More about the upcoming mechanism:

• A new two-tier mechanism will replace the existing Permanent Machinery of Arbitration (PMA) mechanism to resolve commercial disputes (excluding disputes concerning the Railways, Income Tax, Custom & Excise Departments) between CPSEs themselves and CPSEs and Government Departments/Organizations, outside the Courts of law.
• At the First level (tier), such commercial disputes will be referred to a Committee comprising of Secretaries of the administrative Ministries/Departments of the concerned CPSEs. And at the second level (tier 2) if the dispute remains unresolved, even after consideration by the above Committee, the same will be referred to the Cabinet Secretary, whose decision will be final and binding on all concerned.
• For the prompt disposal of disputes, a time period of 3 months at the first level has been prescribed.

Cabinet approves National Policy on Biofuels – 2018

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 today.

Details of the policy:

• It categorizes the biofuels called Basic Biofuels into 3 categories viz. i.  First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel , ii. “Advanced Biofuels” – Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels and iii. Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG among others to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
• Inorder to increase farmers income use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
• It provides a funding scheme of 2G ethanol Bio refineries an amount of Rs.5,000 crore in 6 years in addition to additional tax incentives, higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.

Benefits:

♦ Increased farmer’s income.

♦ Better Solid Waste Management.

♦ Cleaner Environment.

♦ Increasing health benefits.

Cabinet approves setting up of a new AIIMS in Deoghar, Jharkhand

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved setting up of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Deoghar, Jharkhand. With an allotment of Rs.1103 cr the AIIMS will be setup under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
• This would benefit both the people of the region for better medical and health services as per National Health Mission and also create employment for the doctors and medical workers of the region.

The Facility would consist of:

i. A hospital with a capacity of 750 beds, trauma center facilities.

ii. A medical college with an in-take of 100 MBBS students per year.

iii. A nursing college with an int-ake of 60 B.Sc.(Nursing) students per year, residential complexes and allied facilities / services, as per the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi.

iv. 20 Speciality/Super Speciality Departments including 15 Operation Theatres.

v. An Ayush Department with 30 beds for providing treatment facilities in the traditional system of medicine.

Details about AIIMS:

Under the PMSSY, AIIMS have been established in Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and Patna. Work of AIIMS Rae Bareli (U.P.), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Kalyani (West Bengal) and Mangalagiri in Guntur (A.P.) is in progress. Construction work has also been awarded for AIIMS, Gorakhpur (U.P.). apart from this the AIIMS at Bathinda, Punjab in July 2016, Guwahati (Assam), May 2017 and Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) in January 2018 have been sanctioned.

Cabinet approves setting up of a Central University in Andhra Pradesh

Approval for establishing a Central University by the name of “Central University of Andhra Pradesh” in Janthaluru Village of Ananthapur District, Andhra Pradesh has been given. The initial corpus of Rs.450 cr has been made.

• It will be a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in order to give a legal status to it till the amendment to the Central Universities Act, 2009 is enacted.
• It will start it’s academic year from 2018-19. would be mentored by an existing Central University till its governing structure is in place.
• This approval will help in mending the regional imbalances in educational facilities and give effect to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act , 2014.

Cabinet approves extension of Delhi Metro corridor from Noida City Centre to Sector-62, Noida Uttar Pradesh

The Union Cabinet Chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved extension of Delhi Metro corridor from Noida City Centre to Sector-62, Noida Uttar Pradesh.

Details of the approval:

• Approval for Extension of Delhi Metro corridor from Noida City Centre to Sector-62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh covering a length of 6.675 k.m.
• Total completion cost of the project is Rs.1,967 crore.
• Project will be implemented by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), the existing Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Government of India and Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• Project will be covered under the legal framework of Central Metro Acts, Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978 and the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, as amended from time to time.

Benefits:

♦ To boost traffic demand and need for an efficient pollution-free mass rapid transport system in NOIDA which has a growing population of 6.42 lakhs as per data of Census 2011.

Cabinet approves development of Trunk Infrastructure Components for Integrated Multi Modal Logistics Hub known as “Freight Village” at Nangal Chaudhary in Haryana under Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion regarding development of Trunk Infrastructure Components for Integrated Multi Modal Logistics Hub known as “Freight Village” at Nangal Chaudhary, Haryana.

Details of the approvals :

• Development of Freight Village, an Integrated Multi Modal Logistics Hub (IMLH), Nangal Chaudhary, Haryana on 886.78 acres of land to be implemented by the project Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in two phases.
• Financial sanction of Rs. 1029.49 crore for development of Phase I and in principle approval for development of Phase II of the project. Expenditure on Phase I comprises cost of entire land at Rs. 266 crore including cost of the land to be used for development of Phase II.
• Investment of Rs. 763.49 crore by National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) which includes of Rs. 266 crore as equity and Rs. 497.49 crore as debt in the SPV.
• Bidding for trunk infrastructure development by SPV on EPC basis.
• The economic benefits of the project will include creation of employment, reduction in fuel costs, boosts to exports, reduction in vehicle (trucks) operating cost, reduction in accident related costs, increase in collection of taxes by the State Government, reduction in pollution, etc.