Important decisions taken in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Modi

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of the National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) as a Section 8 Company under the Companies Act, 2013 in India with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Confederation of Indian Industry representing the industry bodies as partners with the Government of India. The NCoE will be set up in Mumbai, Maharashtra and is in pursuance to the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs’ budget announcement for 2022-23 for setting up of an AVGC Task Force in the country.

AVGC-XR sector today plays an indispensable role in the entire realm of Media and Entertainment including filmmaking, Over The Top (OTT) platforms, gaming, advertisements and several other areas including health, education and other social sectors thereby encompassing the overall structure of the country’s growth story. With rapidly evolving technology and increasing internet penetration all across the country, coupled with one of the cheapest data rates, the usage of AVGC-XR globally is poised to grow at an exponential pace.

Driving the growth of AVGC-XR sector

To keep up with this brisk pace, the National Centre of Excellence is being established to act as the pinnacle institution to anchor the AVGC-XR ecosystem in the country. Along with offering specialized training-cum-learning programs to equip both amateurs and professionals with the latest skill sets in cutting-edge AVGC-XR technologies, this NCoE will also foster research and development and will bring together experts from various fields like computer science, engineering, design and art that can lead to major breakthroughs in the field of AVGC-XR. This National Centre of Excellence will also extensively focus on creation of India’s IP for both domestic consumption and global outreach, overall leading to creation of content based on India’s rich historical and cultural heritage. Further, the NCoE will function as an incubation centre by providing resources for nurturing startups and early-stage companies in the AVGC-XR field. Also, NCoE will serve not only as an academic accelerator but also a production/ industry accelerator.

By positioning this NCoE as the driving force for the growth of AVGC-XR industry it will serve as one of the biggest sources of employment for the youth from all parts of the country. This will give an enormous push to the creative arts and design sector and make India the hub for AVGC-XR activities furthering the goals of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative.

The NCoE for AVGC-XR will also position India as a content hub for providing state-of-the-art content thereby enhancing India’s soft power globally and attracting foreign investment into the Media & Entertainment Sector.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the continuation of schemes of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) to provide remunerative prices to farmers and to control price volatility of essential commodities for consumers.

The total financial outgo will be Rs. 35,000 crore during 15^th Finance Commission Cycle upto 2025-26.

The Government has converged the Price Support Scheme (PSS) & Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) schemes in PM AASHA to serve the farmers and consumers more efficiently. The Integrated scheme of PM-AASHA will bring-in more effectiveness in the implementation which would not only help in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers. PM-AASHA will now have the components of Price Support scheme (PSS) ,Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) , Price Deficit Payment Scheme (POPS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS).

The procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds & copra at MSP under Price Support Scheme will be on 25% of national Production of these notified crops from 2024-25 season onwards which would enable States to procure more of these crops at MSP from farmers for ensuring remunerative prices and preventing distress sale. However, this ceiling will not be applicable in case of Tur, Urad & Masur for 2024-25 season as there will be a 100 % procurement of Tur, Urad & Masur during in 2024-25 season as decided earlier.

The Government has renewed and enhanced the existing government guarantee to Rs.45,000 crore for procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds & copra at MSP from farmers. This will help in more procurement of pulses, oilseeds & copra by Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) from farmers at MSP including Pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and eSamyukti portal of National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) whenever prices fall below MSP in the market. This would also motivate the farmers to cultivate more of these crops in the country and contribute in achieving self-sufficiency in these crops leading to reduction in dependence on imports to meet domestic requirement.

The extension of Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) scheme will help in protecting consumers from extreme volatility in prices of agri-horticultural commodities by maintaining strategic buffer stock of pulses and onion for calibrated release; to discourage hoarding, unscrupulous speculation; and for supplies to consumers at affordable prices. Procurement of pulses at market price will be done by Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) including Pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of NAFED and eSamyukti portal of NCCF whenever prices rule above MSP in the market. Apart from buffer maintenance, the interventions under PSF scheme have been undertaken in other crops such as Tomato and in subsidized retail sale of Bharat DaIs, Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice.

In order to encourage the states to come forward for implementation of Price Deficit Payment Scheme (PDPS) as an option for Notified oilseeds, the coverage has been enhanced from existing 25% of state production of oilseeds to 40% and also enhanced the implementation period from 3 months to 4 months for the benefits of farmers. The compensation of difference between MSP and Sale/Modal price to be borne by Central Government is limited to 15% of MSP.

The extension of implementation of Market Intervention scheme (MIS) with changes will provide remunerative prices to farmers growing perishable horticulture crops. The Government has increased the coverage from 20% to 25% of production and has added a new option of making differential payment directly into the farmers’ account instead of physical procurement under MIS. Further, in case of TOP (Tomato, Onion & Potato) crops, to bridge the price gap in TOP crops between producing states and consuming states during peak harvesting time, the Government has decided to bear the transportation and storage expenses for the operations undertaken by Central Nodal Agencies like NAFED & NCCF which will not only ensure remunerative prices to farmers but also soften the prices of TOP crops for consumers in the market.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers for fixing the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for RABI Season, 2024 (from 01.10.2024 to 31.03.2025) on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers.

The tentative budgetary requirement for Rabi season 2024 would be approximately Rs.24,475.53 crore.

Benefits:

•  Availability of fertilizers to farmers at subsidized, affordable and reasonable prices will be ensured.
• Rationalization of subsidy on P&K fertilizers in view of recent trends in the international prices of fertilizers and inputs.

Implementation Strategy and targets:

The subsidy on P&K fertilizers will be provided based on approved rates for Rabi 2024 (applicable from 01.10.2024 to 31.03.2025) to ensure smooth availability of these fertilizers to the farmers at affordable prices.

Backqround:

Government is making available 28 grades of P&K fertilizers to farmers at subsidized prices through fertilizer manufacturers/importers. The subsidy on P&K fertilizers is governed by NBS Scheme w.e.f. 01 .04.2010. In accordance with its farmer friendly approach, the Government is committed to ensure the availability of P&K fertilizers to the farmers at affordable prices. In view of the recent trends in the international prices of fertilizers & inputs i.e. Urea, DAP,MOP and Sulphur, Government has decided to approve the NBS rates for Rabi 2024 effective from 01.10.24 to 31.03.25 on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers. The subsidy would be provided to the fertilizer companies as per approved and notified rates so that fertilizers are made available to farmers at affordable prices.

The union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the mission to moon, named Chandrayaan-4 to develop and demonstrate the technologies to come back to Earth after successfully landing on the Moon and also collect moon samples and analyse them on Earth. This Chandrayaan-4 mission will achieve the foundational technologies capabilities eventually for an Indian landing on the moon (planned by year 2040) and return safely back to Earth. Major technologies that are required for docking/undocking, landing, safe return to earth and also accomplish lunar sample collection and analysis would be demonstrated.

The Government of India has outlined an expanded vision for the Indian space programme during the Amrit Kaal that envisages an Indian Space Station (Bharatiya Antariksh Station) by 2035 and Indian Landing on the Moon by 2040. To realize this vision, a series of Gaganyaan & Chandrayaan follow-on missions are envisaged including the development of associated space transportation & infrastructure capabilities. The successful demonstration of safe and soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 Lander on the Lunar Surface has established vital technologies and demonstrated capabilities that only few other nations possess. A natural successor to the successful landing mission is the demonstration of the ability to collect Lunar Samples and return them safely back to Earth

ISRO will be responsible for the development of spacecraft and launch. The Project will be effectively managed and monitored through the established practices prevailing at ISRO. The mission is expected to be completed within 36 months of approval with the participation of industry and academia.

All the critical technologies are envisaged to be indigenously developed. The realization of the mission is through various industries and it is envisaged that there would be high employment potential and technology spin-off to other sectors of the economy.

The total fund requirement for the technology demonstration mission “Chandrayaan-4” is Rs. 2104.06 Crore. The cost includes spacecraft development and realization, two launch vehicle missions of LVM3, external deep space network support and conducting special tests for design validation, finally leading to the mission of landing on moon surface and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar sample.

The mission would enable India to be self-sufficient in critical foundational technologies for manned missions, lunar sample return and scientific analysis of Lunar samples. Towards realization there would be a significant involvement of Indian Industry. Plan for associating the Indian academia through Chandrayaan-4 science meets, workshops, is already in place. This mission will also ensure the establishment of facilities for curation and analysis of the returned samples, which will be national assets

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the development of Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), that will be a significant step towards the Government’s vision of establishing & operating the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and towards developing capability for Indian Crewed Landing on the Moon by 2040. NGLV will have 3 times the present payload capability with 1.5 times the cost compared to LVM3, and will also have reusability resulting in low-cost access to space and modular green propulsion systems.

The goals of the Indian space programme during the Amrit Kaal require a new generation of human rated launch vehicles with high payload capability & reusability. Hence, the development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) is taken up which is designed to have a maximum payload capability of 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit, which also has a reusable first stage. Currently, India has achieved self-reliance in space transportation systems to launch satellites up to 10 tonne to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4 tonne to Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) through the currently operational PSLV, GSLV, LVM3 & SSLV launch vehicles.

The NGLV development project will be implemented with maximal participation from the Indian industry, who is also expected to invest in the manufacturing capacity at the outset itself, thereby allowing a seamless transition to the operational phase subsequent to the development. NGLV will be demonstrated with three development flights (D1, D2 & D3) with a target of 96 months (8 years) for the completion of the development phase.

The total fund approved is Rs. 8240.00 Crore and includes the development costs, three developmental flights, essential facility establishment, Programme Management and Launch Campaign.

Leap towards Bharatiya Antariksh Station

The development of NGLV will enable national & commercial missions including launch of human spaceflight missions to Bharatiya Antariksh Station, Lunar/inter-planetary exploration missions along with communication & earth observation satellite constellations to Low Earth Orbit that will benefit the entire space ecosystem in the country. This project will boost the Indian space ecosystem in terms of capability and capacity.