Cabinet nods funds for railways, e-buses & digital India

The Union Cabinet announced had approved several schemes, which included the PM-eBus Sewa aimed at enhancing city bus operations, along with seven multi-tracking projects by the Indian Railways valued at Rs 325 billion. The decisions had been made during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The key points from the announcements made in the Centre's cabinet briefing are as follows: 1. The Centre revealed plans to introduce 10,000 new electric buses across 100 cities as part of the PM e-bus Seva initiative. Following the Union Cabinet meeting, Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur disclosed that out of the 169 cities, a hundred would be selected through a challenge-based method. The scheme had been allocated Rs 576.13 billion. 2. Elaborating further on the new scheme, Thakur explained that out of the Rs 576.13 billion, the central government would contribute Rs 200 billion. The scheme aimed to cover cities with a population of three lakhs or more. Within this framework, city bus operations utilising 10,000 e-buses under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model would be initiated. The scheme was intended to provide support for bus operations over a ten-year period. 3. The cabinet also gave its approval to the Vishwakarma Yojana scheme, as revealed by Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics, and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, during the briefing. 4. Under the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the government would promote traditional skills such as pottery, blacksmithing, construction, tailoring, and boat-building, which had been passed down through generations. 5. The Vishwakarma Yojana was expected to benefit three million families of craftsmen. The scheme, valued at Rs 130 billion, would enable craftsmen to access subsidised loans of up to Rs 2 lakh, according to Vaishnaw's statement to the news agency PTI. 6. Vaishnaw explained, There are two types of skill programs under the scheme, and a stipend of Rs 500 will be provided to those availing of the scheme, along with Rs 15,000 in support to purchase modern tools. Additionally, beneficiaries of the Vishwakarma scheme can obtain loans of up to Rs 1,00,000. 7. The Cabinet also granted approval for the extension of the Digital India program, allocating Rs 149.03 billion for it, as disclosed by Vaishnaw. He further added that 'Bhashini', the national digital public platform for universal language translation, would be introduced as part of the Digital India program. 8. In the course of the cabinet meeting, the Centre also made the decision to add nine more supercomputers to the existing 18 systems already deployed under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), according to Vaishnaw's statement as reported by PTI. 9. The Union Cabinet greenlit seven multi-tracking projects by the Indian Railways, with a budget of Rs 325 billion, Vaishnaw announced, while also emphasising the government's substantial focus on the development of the Railways under PM Modi. 10. The cabinet meeting also saw the Centre approving the expansion of DigiLocker to encompass micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Vaishnaw stated, DigiLocker was initially available only for individuals and currently boasts more than 400 million subscribers. A new extension of DigiLocker tailored for MSMEs will soon be launched. Also read:  Elevated, underground sections archives key milestones at Kanpur MetroPune Metro Expands to Ramwadi and Swargate After Successful Inauguration