The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a special dispensation for Gazprom, allowing the operator of an offshore block to carry out additional exploration for 18 months beyond the Phase-III of exploration.
“The penalty amount in lieu of the unfinished work programme of Phase-III exploration, along with the liquidated damages of the extension approved, may be considered in kind, that is, through additional work programme,” a statement released by the government read.
The statement said there was no financial expenditure involved on behalf of the government and that “the contractors under the production-sharing contracts have commitments to carry out the exploration work programme, which may lead to discoveries of hydrocarbons.”
CCEA also approved $200 million (nearly Rs 910 crore) equity infusion into PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd within three years. The approval would increase the investment in the company from $455 million to $655 million (nearly Rs 3,000 crore), as recommended by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. CCEA also approved a Rs 6,000-crore investment for a revised scheme of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools during the current Plan period to enable information technology infrastructure in education.
“Around 108,000 government and government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools will be covered in the scheme. The actual expenditure approved by the central government is Rs 6,000 crore, against the required Rs 6,926 crore,” said Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal.
Around 75 per cent funding for the scheme would be provided by the Centre. In northeastern states, 90 per cent funds will be provided by the central government. The two main objectives of the scheme were ICT-enabled teaching and promoting computer literacy in schools, Sibal said. “This includes dependable power supply, internet connectivity and capacity building of over 1 million teachers using ICT-based tools.”
The scheme, launched in 2005, is currently being implemented through state governments and union territories covering over 53,000 schools in the country.