Key Cabinet decisions: 12 new smart cities, 3 railway infra projects, expansion of Agri Infra Fund

Ahswini Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a Cabinet briefing held on August 28 announced a slew of Cabinet decisions, including the setting up of industrial smart cities, approval for railway projects, among others.

He said that 12 industrial smart cities will be set up by the Centre. These industrial smart cities will be set up under the Government of India's National Industrial Corridor Development Programme. They will focus on manufacturing-related sectors across states to attract investments worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore, the union minister said at the Cabinet briefing.

These cities will be set up at an estimated investment of Rs 28,602 crore. The projects will span across 10 states and have been strategically planned across six major corridors.

Dhirendra Ojha, the principal spokesperson of the Government of India wrote on X, “India to soon have a grand necklace of Industrial Smart Cities on the backbone of Golden Quadrilateral as #Cabinet approves 12 world-class greenfield Industrial Smart Cities under National Industrial Corridor Development Programme.”

Vaishnaw further said that the Cabinet has approved infra projects worth Rs 2,00,000 crore in the last three months.

Additionally, three railway infrastructure projects with a total layout of Rs 6456 crore have also been approved by the Cabinet. This will include two new lines and one multi-tracking project of the Indian Railways. The 121-km railway line for the Jamshedpur-Purulia-Asansol corridor has been approved at a cost of Rs 2170 crore. The other two are the Sardega-Bhalmunda New Double Line and the Bargah Road-Nawaprara Road New Line.

These projects covering four states, namely, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, are expected to provide connectivity, facilitate ease of travelling, minimize logistics cost, reduce oil imports and lower CO2 emissions

The Cabinet also approved the expansion of the Agriculture Infra Fund. The Agri Infra Fund, which was launched in 2020 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore, will now include integrated secondary processing and credit guarantee for projects, among others.

Ashwini Vaishnaw announced next that Cabinet has approved equity support to states for hydro electricity projects in the North East. The central financial assistance towards equity participation by the state governments of the North Eastern Region will help develop hydro electric projects in the North Eastern Region, Ojha said.

The decision to expand private FM radios for 234 cities also got Cabinet nod, the union minister announced at the Cabinet briefing. Ojha wrote on X, "Cabinet approves proposal for conduct of 3rd batch of ascending e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities; Move aims to boost local content in mother tongue and create new employment opportunities."