Cabinet approves total outlay of Rs.6520 crore including additional outlay of Rs.1920 crore for ongoing Central Sector Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana” (PMKSY) during 15th Finance Commission Cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a total outlay of Rs.6520 crore including additional outlay of Rs.1920 crore for ongoing Central Sector Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana” (PMKSY) during 15th Finance Commission Cycle (FCC) (2021-22 to 2025-26).
Approval includes (i) Rs.1000 crore to support setting up 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 – Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure (FSQAI) of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), in alignment with the budget announcement and (ii) Rs.920 crore, for sanctioning projects under various component schemes of PMKSY during the 15th FCC.
Both ICCVAI and FSQAI are demand driven component schemes of PMKSY. The Expression of Interests (EOIs) would be floated for inviting proposals from eligible entities across the country. The proposals received against the EOI would be approved after proper scrutiny as per eligibility criteria as per the extant scheme guidelines.
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. The setting up of the proposed 100 NABL-accredited food testing laboratories under private sector will lead to the development of advanced infrastructure for testing food samples, thereby ensuring compliance with food safety standards and supply of safe foods.
Cabinet approves Central Sector Scheme “Grant in aid to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)” with an outlay of Rs.2000 crore
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today has approved the Central Sector Scheme “Grant in aid to National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)” with an outlay of Rs.2000 crore for a period of four years from 2025-26 to 2028- 29 (Rs.500 crore each year from FY 2025-26).
On the basis of grant in aid of Rs.2000 crore to NCDC from FY 2025-26 to FY 2028-29, NCDC will be able to raise Rs.20,000 crore from open market over a span of four years. These funds will be utilized by NCDC for granting loans to Cooperatives for setting up new projects / expansion of plants and loan for meeting the working capital requirements.
Financial implications:
The source of finance of Rs.2000 crore (Rs.500 crore each year from FY 2025-26 to FY 2028-29) grant to NCDC shall be through budgetary support from Government of India. On the basis of grant in aid of Rs.2000 crore to NCDC from FY 2025-26 to FY 2028-29, NCDC will be able to raise Rs.20,000 crore from open market over a span of four years.
Benefits:
Approximately 2.9 crore members of 13,288 Cooperative societies of various sectors like Dairy, Livestock, Fisheries, Sugar, Textile, Food Processing, Storage and Cold Storage; Labour and Women led cooperatives. across the country are likely to get benefitted.
Implementation strategy and targets:
(i) NCDC will be the executing agency for this scheme for the purpose of disbursement, follow up, monitoring of implementation of project, and recovery of loan disbursed out of the fund.
(ii) NCDC will provide loans to cooperatives either through state government or directly, as per NCDC guidelines. Cooperatives, which are meeting the criteria of direct funding guidelines of NCDC would be considered for financial assistance directly against admissible security or state government guarantee.
(iii) NCDC will provide loans to cooperatives, long term credit for setting up/ modernization/ technology upgradation/ expansion of project facilities for various sectors and working capital to run their businesses efficiently and profitably.
Impact, including employment generation potential:
i. Funds provided to these cooperatives will lead to creation of income generating capital assets and provide cooperatives with much needed liquidity in the form of working capital.
ii. In addition to economic benefits, cooperatives through their principles of democracy, equality and community concerns are an essential tool to bridge the socio-economic gap and increase participation of women in the workforce.
iii. The availability of loans will help cooperatives in their capacity augmentation, modernization, diversification of activities, increasing their profitability and enable them to increase their productivity and generate more employment improving the economic conditions of the farmer members.
iv. Additionally, term loans for the infrastructure development also create widespread employment opportunities across different skill levels.
Background:
The cooperative sector is contributing immensely to the Indian economy. Cooperatives play a vital role in socio-economic upliftment, infrastructure development, and job creation in the rural sector. Cooperative Sector contributes substantially across all the sectors of their respective production in the country. The cooperatives in India cover a wide array of activities, including credit and banking, fertilizer, sugar, dairy, marketing, consumer goods, handloom, handicraft, fisheries, housing, etc. India has more than 8.25 lakh cooperatives with more than 29 crore members and 94 percent farmers are associated with cooperatives in some form or the other.
Due to their important socio-economic contribution to the rural economy, it is essential to support the weaker sectors like dairy, poultry & livestock, fisheries, sugar, textile, processing, storage & cold storage, labour cooperatives and women cooperatives etc. by granting them long term and working capital loans.
Cabinet approves four multitracking projects covering 13 Districts across the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand increasing the existing network of Indian Railways by about 574 Kms
The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs 11,169 crore (approx.) and will be completed upto 2028-29
The projects will also generate direct employment for about 229 lakh human-days during construction
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today has approved 4 (Four) projects of Ministry of Railways with total cost of Rs. 11,169 crore (approx.). These projects include:
(1) Itarsi – Nagpur 4th Line
(2) Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) – Parbhani Doubling
(3) Aluabari Road- New Jalpaiguri 3rd and 4th Line
(4) Dangoaposi- Jaroli 3rd and 4th Line
The increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion. The projects are in line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s Vision of a New India which will make people of the region “Atmanirbhar” by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities.
The projects are planned on PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity & logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. These projects will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods, and services.
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.
The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approx. 2,309 villages, which are having a population of about 43.60 lakh.
These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agriculture commodities, and Petroleum products etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 95.91 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum). The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (16 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (515 Crore Kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 20 Crore trees.