 "In pursuit of swachhness")
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a $1.5 billion (about Rs 9,000 crore) offer of World Bank support for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas.
The approval provides for a mechanism of incentivisation through World Bank credit, communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the meeting here. States' performance will be gauged through performance indicators.
Read more from our special coverage on "SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN"
States will pass on at least 95 per cent of Performance Incentive Grant Funds to the appropriate implementing levels, the minister said.
"The incentive framework introduced through the project will reorient efforts of states towards SBM (G) aims such as reduction in open defecation, sustainable achievement of open defecation-free villages and improvement in solid and liquid waste management," Prasad said.
Fertiliser subsidy
The government has also fixed the subsidy rates of phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for 2016-17, with an estimated outgo of Rs 21,274 crore, at the same estimated level of consumption as in 2015-16, at about 31 million tonnes.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved Rs 15.8 per kg for nitrogen, Rs 13.2 per kg for phosphorus, Rs 15.4 per kg potash and Rs 2.04 per kg for sulphur.
More From This Section
Under the policy since April 2010, the subsidy on P&K fertilisers is announced annually for each of these four nutrients on a per kg basis, then converted into subsidy per tonne. The rates are determined by taking into account the international and domestic prices of P&K fertiliser, exchange rate and inventory levels.
Bhutan hydro project
The Cabinet approved a revised cost of Rs 4,021 crore for the 720 Mw Mangadechhu Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan, under implementation. The project will provide surplus power to India and the bilateral agreement was signed in April 2010, at an estimated Rs 2,896 crore (March 2008 prices). The Government of India is funding it, with 30 per cent being a grant and 70 per cent a loan, at 10 per cent annual interest, to be paid back in 30 equal six-month instalments.
World football
The sports ministry has been told to form an organising committee for hosting the Under-17 world football tournament next year. The government approved changes suggested by an inspection team from Fifa, the world football body.
The venues are Nehru Stadium in Delhi, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Nehru Stadium in Kochi, Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Nehru Stadium in Goa and IG Stadium in Guwahati. The total cost is supposed to be within Rs 95 crore. The Fifa team was reportedly broadly satisfied but noted major renovation was needed in most of the six stadia, to comply with international standards.
Obsolete laws
A law which the government now does not want to scrap and another which has already been repealed are set to be removed from two Bills which seek to abrogate obsolete legislation. The two -- Appropriation Acts Repeal Bill, 2015 and the Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015 -- are pending in the Rajya Sabha, after being approved by the Lok Sabha.
Official amendments to the two to remove the Pensions' Act and the Punjab Appropriation Act from the list of laws the government wants to repeal were cleared on Wednesday by the Union Cabinet.
A senior functionary said the government does not now favour repealing the Pension Act, 1871. The Punjab Appropriation Act has already been repealed and "inadvertently" became part of the Appropriation (Acts) Repeal Bill, 2015, he said.
The two Bills will return to the Lok Sabha for fresh approval after the official amendments. The Bills seek to scrap a total of 1,053 Acts which have become redundant and are clogging the statute books.
Other decisions
* Govt approves pacts with UAE for skill development;
* Approval for an agreement with the UAE to explore mobilisation up to $75 billion of long-term investment in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund;
* CCEA approved doubling of the 124-km Kiul-Gaya rail line in Bihar, estimated to cost Rs 1,354 crore. And, doubling of 158.5 km Hatia-Bondamuda line for catering to thermal power units in the region;
* Approval for signing of an agreement with Lithuania for cooperation in agriculture;
* Transfer of 89.7 hectares of land in Delhi's Dwarka to the department of industrial policy and promotion for setting up a world-class exhibition-cum convention centre;
* CCEA decided to extend by four years the Udaan Scheme, a special industry initiative for Jammu & Kashmir, for exposing the state's youth to the corporate sector, till 2019-20;
* Approved procurement of launch and related services for GSAT-11 spacecraft, at Rs 1,117 crore;
