Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 30

The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, on Wednesday cleared two major financing proposals, one for providing broadband in all villages and the other and more ambitious plan worth over Rs 3 lakh crore for power sector reforms with the help of smart meters and artificial intelligence.

Govt extends scheme for job creation

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave approval for extending the terminal date for registration of beneficiaries for availing the benefit under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) for another nine months i.e. from June 30 to March 31, 2022

Both outlays were included on Monday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rs 6.29-lakh crore stimulus package to revive the economy hit by the second Covid wave.

Ensure vax for all: PM to ministers

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a nearly five-hour-long meeting of the council of ministers and is learnt to have urged his colleagues to ensure Covid vaccination for all. TNS

Having missed two deadlines for connecting all gram panchayats, the Cabinet decided to infuse Rs 19,041 crore as sustainability gap funding for the BharatNet project (formerly National Optical Fibre Network. The project was announced in 2017 with an outlay of Rs 42,068 crore, said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Union Cabinet also approved a reforms-based and results-linked revamped distribution sector scheme to improve the operational efficiencies of state power distribution companies by helping hem strengthen their infrastructure.

The scheme plans to reduce transmission losses to 12-15 per cent by 2024-25 besides improving the quality of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector. It has a major focus on improving rural electricity supply through “solarisation” of agricultural feeders. Besides, the separation of 10,000 agriculture feeders would be taken up through an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore.