Cabinet approves six major decisions including four for strengthening railway network — Check details
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Union Cabinet approved these schemes and projects for the benefit of cooperative societies, farmers, and the people of the nation who use government services.
1. Additional funds for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved a total allocation of ₹ 6,520 crore and an additional allocation of ₹ 1,920 crore for the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.
According to the official release, ₹ 1,000 crore out of the total allocation will be used to support the set-up cost of 50 Multi-Product Food Irradiation Units under the component scheme Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (ICCVAI) and 100 Food Testing Labs (FTLs) with NABL accreditation under the component scheme.
The government also announced its plans to use ₹ 920 crore to sanction projects under various component schemes of PMKSY during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle, from fiscal years 2021-12 to 2025-26.
'The implementation of the proposed 50 multi-product food irradiation units is expected to create total preservation capacity ranging from 20 to 30 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) per annum, based on the type of food products irradiated under these units,' said the government.
They also said that the NABL-accredited food testing lab will lead to the development of advanced infrastructure for testing food samples to ensure food safety standards.
2. Aid to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC): The Union Cabinet also approved a total of ₹ 2,000 crore in aid to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for a period of four years in ₹ 500 crore tranches, starting from the 2025-26 fiscal year to 2028-29.
The NCDC will also be able to raise ₹ 20,000 crore from the open market over these four years, the funds of which will be utilised to grant loans to cooperatives to set up new projects or carry out expansion plans, said the government.
With this plan, the government aims to benefit 2.9 crore members of 13,288 Cooperative societies in various sectors, including Dairy, Livestock, Fisheries, Sugar, Textile, Food Processing, Storage, and Cold Storage; labour and women-led cooperatives across the nation.
These funds also aim to create income-generating capital assets, which are expected to boost employment opportunities across different skill levels.
The Union Cabinet's Committee on Economic Affairs, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved four railway development projects on Thursday, 31 July 2025.
'The 4 (four) projects covering 13 Districts across the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 574 Kms,' said the government in the official release.
1. Itarsi — Nagpur 4th Line: This railway expansion project, which involves building a fourth railway line between Itarsi station and Nagpur station, will be part of the 'Delhi-Chennai High Density Network.'
This project seeks to increase the efficiency and speed of movement of passenger and goods railway traffic between the states of Maharashtra (Nagpur) and Madhya Pradesh (Narmadapuram, Berul, and Pandhurna).
The passage seeks to cater to 10 million tonnes of cargo and save ₹ 1,206 crore in logistical costs.
2. Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) — Parbhani Doubling: The second project, which received Cabinet approval, is a 177-kilometre-long railway doubling line project costing ₹ 2,179 crore.
The project will connect Jalna Dry Port in Maharashtra to the Goodshed in Dinagaon and Daulatabad, benefitting the districts of Chhatrapati Shambhajinagar, Jalna, and Parbhani.
3. Aluabari Road — New Jalpaiguri 3rd and 4th Line: This additional third and fourth line will serve as a strategic importance to connect the North-Eastern states of India near the international borders of Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
The 57-kilometre, ₹ 1,786 crore project will benefit the States of West Bengal (Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, and Uttar Dinajpur) and Bihar (Kishanganj).
4. Dangoaposi — Jaroli 3rd and 4th Line: The third and fourth line project between Dangoaposi and Jaroli will also enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways in the region.
'The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approx. 2,309 villages, which are having a population of about 43.60 lakh,' said the government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
39 minutes ago
- Indian Express
August 6, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Assam Voter List
The prospects of holding early parliamentary elections in Assam appeared to recede when a team of the student agitation leaders arrived in New Delhi and demanded a fresh revision of rolls with a 'clear set of directives'. The leaders met the Chief Election Commissioner, R K Trivedi, and emphasised in a memorandum that the assumption that any non-citizen entering Assam before 1971 had automatically acquired citizenship was not legally tenable. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 18 to 30, it is learnt. The Cabinet is also believed to have agreed to raise the strength of high court judges. The government will now bring a bill in Parliament to this effect. What was worrying the government was the accumulation of a large number of cases in high courts and the Supreme Court. A conspiracy to cause disorder in Haryana and kill very important persons, including CM Bhajan Lal, family members of Gen R S Dayal, who led the military action in the Golden Temple last year, and the senior superintendent of police, Ludhiana, was unearthed by the Kurukshetra police following the arrest of five persons. One foreign-made .455 bore revolver, hand grenades, two guns and a large quantity of ammunition have been recovered. The legendary Bob Marshall outclassed second seed Subhash Agrawal and Indian national champion Geet Sethi beat holder Michael Ferreira to set up a clash between experience and youth in the final of the 25th World Amateur Billiards Championship on August 6. The 75-year-old Marshall beat Agrawal in all departments of the game to record a convincing 2809-1872 win while Sethi forged ahead in the last hour to topple holder Ferreira 2513-2379.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Riders fume as wait for 2.6km E-W stretch stretches beyond 3 months
1 2 Kolkata: The commuter frustration over the inordinate delay in commissioning the 2.6-km stretch of East-West Metro, connecting the two disjointed sections — Sector V-Sealdah and Esplanade-Howrah Maidan — is turning into anger. People are questioning the rationale of an already long-delayed project being intentionally kept on hold by Metro Railway officials despite its completion more than three months earlier. The frustration has become more pronounced in recent weeks as commuters endure punishing road conditions — pothole-ridden thoroughfares, waterlogged lanes, and prolonged traffic snarls — to travel along the stretch. Some of these commuters have taken to social media, questioning why there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the crucial Sealdah-Esplanade section, although the project was approved for revenue operations on April 28. On Tuesday, singer-composer Shruti Pathak, who is running a campaign for the metro line's launch, posted on her X handle: "Day 12 of asking for the Esplanade-Sealdah metro to open. 12 days. 12 sincere requests. Still no action. We need this metro to run — not just for convenience, but for dignity." She has tagged @PMOIndia and @metrorailwaykolkata in her appeal. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata The East-West Metro or Green Line will eventually span 16.6 km. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The 9.2-km Sector V-Sealdah section was opened in three phases from Feb 2020 while the 4.8-km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan was launched by PM Narendra Modi in March 2024. The first stretch ferries 45,000-odd passengers every day while the second registers nearly 55,000 daily riders, providing an under-river connection between Kolkata and Howrah. The missing link — the 2.6-km Esplanade-Sealdah corridor passing through the subsidence-prone Bowbazar — is yet to open. Metro Railway estimates that daily passenger count could reach 7 lakh once the full East-West Metro line is operational. Around mid-April, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the project's implementer, was asked to wrap up work on the Esplanade-Sealdah stretch and be ready for an "imminent inauguration". Despite overcoming various setbacks and receiving the final authorisation for revenue services from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) on April 28, there is yet no sign of integration of the two Green Line sections. Metro engineers admit opening the entire 16.6-km Sector V-Howrah Maidan corridor will transform the way Kolkatans travel. Chanchal Das, a Salt Lake resident, voiced a common concern: "So many years, so many deadlines missed, especially for the last section, for which several Bowbazar residents are still living in rented flats. When will we be able to zip to Howrah and also use the Esplanade interchange to access the North-South Metro?"
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Office layout in Kartavya Bhawan impacts confidentiality, efficiency: Officers to PMO
A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the first of the 10 new secretariat buildings planned as a part of the Central Vista redevelopment, a forum representing 13,000 Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officers on Tuesday wrote to the PM's Office raising concerns that the open layout of the new building would adversely impact confidentiality and efficiency of those working there. The CSS Forum, which represents CSS Group B and organised Group A officers, wrote to the PM's Principal Secretary P K Mishra and secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which is responsible for the Central Vista project, Srinivas Katikithala. The forum flagged what it termed was the violation of the Ministry's policy for space allocation in Kartavya Bhawan, which the PM will inaugurate on Wednesday. 'The seating arrangement in Kartavya Bhawan-3 lacks the necessary spatial integrity and functional separation of sections. In addition, multiple sections are housed in a single work hall without clear demarcation. Assistant Section Officers (ASOs), who are central to file processing and examining, lack dedicated storage… as well as partitions between their workspaces. Further, office space for Section Officer and Under Secretary level officers has been created by putting low height almirahs, which not only compromises privacy but also causes intermittent distractions, adversely affecting focus and critical thinking essential for analytical work, as well as the discreet handling of sensitive matters,' the forum wrote. They said under secretaries who work on confidential matters, including classified files, court cases and vigilance issues, need a private workspace. 'However, they have been provided open office space, wherein their telephonic and in-person discussions with senior authorities and other officials can be easily overheard… This is particularly problematic for sections dealing with sensitive matters, where premature disclosure could compromise outcomes. In the existing set up, separate rooms are used to be provided to Under Secretaries to ensure the necessary confidentiality for their critical responsibilities.' The letter also cited a March 16, 2017 office memorandum of the Directorate of Estates, under MoHUA, which specifies the space to be allotted to officers based on their pay level and designation. Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu's national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. ... Read More
