NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday decided to strengthen the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with an additional outlay of Rs 2,000 crore and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) by infusing Rs 6,520 crore. Besides, Rs 11,168 crore has been sanctioned for four railway multi-tracking projects.
The decisions were taken at meetings of the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCA) chaired by PM Narendra Modi. I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “An approval has been granted for a total infusion of Rs 6,520 crore with an additional allocation of Rs 1,920 crore for the PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.”
In an official release, the government said Rs 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 scheme’s Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure and 100 food testing labs.
In another decision, the Union Cabinet approved aid of Rs 2,000 to the NCDC over four years in Rs 500 crore tranches, beginning from the 2025-26 fiscal year, Vaishnaw said.
According to officials, the NCDC will now be able to raise Rs 20,000 crore from the open market over these four years, which will be placed for granting loans to cooperative societies to set up new projects or carry out expansion plans.
“The government aims to benefit 2.9 crore members of 13,288 cooperative societies in various sectors,” the minister said, adding, the NCDC fund also aims to create income-generating capital assets, expected to boost employment opportunities across skill levels.
Meanwhile, the CCEA has approved four railway multi-tracking projects covering 13 districts in Maharashtra, MP, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand, increasing the existing network by about 574 km at a cost Rs 11,168 crore.
“These projects include the Itarsi-Nagpur 4th Line, Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) - Parbhani doubling, Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd and 4th Line, and Dangoaposi-Jaroli 3rd and 4th Line. All these projects will be completed by 2028-29,” Vaishnaw said.
Streamline Operations, Alleviate Congestion
Four multi-tracking projects for railways get Cabinet nod
Itarsi-Nagpur 4th line
Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd and 4th Lines
Chhtrapati Sambhajinagar- Parbhani line doubling
Dangoaposi-Jaroli 3rd and 4th lines
Projects to generate direct employment for about 229 lakh man-days during construction
Enhance connectivity to approximately 2,309 villages, with population of about 43.60 lakh