NEW DELHI: The Government on Wednesday gave its nod to several infrastructure projects, including a mega plan worth Rs 69,725 crore to revitalise India’s shipbuilding and maritime sector and rail and road projects each costing a total of over Rs 6,000 crore in poll-bound Bihar.
It has also decided to give Production Linked Bonus (PLB) of 78 days of basic pay to 10.91 lakh Railways employees costing the exchequer Rs 2, 865 crore, increasing 10,000 PG and UG medical seats in government sector colleges and a CSIR scheme on Capacity Building and Human Resource Development with a total outlay of Rs 2, 277 crore for the period of the Fifteenth Finance Commission Cycle 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Briefing media after the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “The shipbuilding package introduces a four-pillar approach designed to strengthen domestic capacity, improve long-term financing, promote greenfield and brownfield shipyard development, enhance technical capabilities and skilling and implement legal, taxation and policy reforms to create a robust maritime infrastructure.”
Under this package, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) will be extended until 31 March 2036 with a total corpus of Rs 24,736 crore, the Minister said, adding that the scheme aims to incentivise shipbuilding in India and includes a Shipbreaking Credit Note with an allocation of Rs 4,001 crore. A National Shipbuilding Mission will also be established to oversee the implementation of all initiatives.
Additionally, as part of the package, the government has also approved a Maritime Development Fund (MDF) with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore to provide long-term financing for the sector.
“This includes a Maritime Investment Fund of Rs 20,000 crore with 49 percent participation from the Government of India and an interest subvention Fund of Rs 5,000 crore to reduce the effective cost of debt and improve project bankability,” Vashnaw said.
Another component of the package is the Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS), which has a budgetary allocation of Rs 19,989 crore.
This aims to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity to 4.5 million Gross Tonnage annually, support mega shipbuilding clusters, infrastructure expansion, establish the India Ship Technology Centre under the Indian Maritime University, and provide risk coverage, including insurance support for shipbuilding projects, the Minister noted.
Meanwhile, Vaishnaw informed that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also approved doubling of the Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya railway line section in Bihar at a cost of Rs 2,192 crore.
He said the project covering four districts in Bihar will increase the existing network of the railways by 104 kilometres, and it will provide rail connectivity to destinations like Rajgir (Shanti Stupa), Nalanda and Pawapuri boosting tourism and pilgrimage.
Another project in poll-bound Bihar is the four-laning of the Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah section of the National Highway -139W in the state on Hybrid Annuity Mode with a total project length of around 79 kilometres worth over Rs 3,822 crore.
The Minister said the four-lane greenfield project would improve connectivity between Patna-Bettiah, linking north Bihar districts and the areas along the Indo-Nepal border.
Vaishnaw, also the Railways Minister, said that the Union Cabinet has approved payment of Productivity Linked Bonus PLB of 78 days for over Rs. 1, 865 crore rupees to 10.91 lakh employees of the national transport monolith.
The payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays.
The Minister said, a scheme of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research DSIR/CSIR on Capacity Building and Human Resource Development with a total outlay of Rs 2, 277 crore for the period of the Fifteenth Finance Commission Cycle 2021-22 to 2025-26 has also been approved.
He said the scheme is going to be implemented by the CSIR and would cover all research and development institutions, national laboratories, Institutes of National Importance, Institutes of Eminence and Universities across the country.
Vaishnaw said, the Cabinet has also approved a major expansion of postgraduate and undergraduate medical education capacity in the country, with Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme CSS adding 5,000 PG seats and the extension of CSS creating 5,023 MBBS seats with a total outlay of Rs 15,035 crore.