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Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country for producing 1st Generation (1G) ethanol from feed stocks such as cereals (rice, wheat, barley, corn & sorghum), sugarcane and sugar beet.
It also gave its approval for deepening and optimisation of inner harbour facilities including development of Western dock on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to handle cape size vessels at Paradip Port.
The estimated project cost is ₹3,005 crore, Union Minister for Shipping, Ports and Waterways, Mansukh Mandaviya, told reporters at a Cabinet briefing.
The Cabinet has also approved Industrial Corridor nodes at Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru. The Multi Modal Logistics Hub and Multi Modal Transport Hub at Greater Noida was also approved. The proposals have total estimated cost of ₹ 7,725 crore and an estimated employment generation of more than 2.8 lakh persons. This will position India as a strong player in global value chains with developed land parcels in cities for immediate allotment for attracting investments, an official release said.
Akash missile system export
The Cabinet also approved export of Akash Missile System and creation of a committee for faster approval of exports. Akash — surface to air missile with a range of 25 kilometres—is country’s important missile with over 96 per cent indigenisation. The missile was inducted in 2014 in Indian Air Force and in 2015 in Indian Army.
This initiative would help the country to improve its defence products and make them globally competitive, an official release said. The export version of Akash will be different from System currently deployed with Indian Armed Forces.
To provide faster approvals for export of such platforms, a committee comprising of Raksha Mantri, External Affairs Minister and National Security Advisor has been created.
The government intends to focus on exporting high value defence platforms to achieve $5 billion of defence export and improve strategic relations with friendly foreign countries.
Indian Missions
The Union Cabinet also approved the opening of 3 Indian Missions in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic in 2021. This is expected to help expand India’s diplomatic footprint, deepen political relations and enable bilateral trade growth, investment and economic engagements, facilitate stronger people to people contacts, bolster political outreach in multilateral fora and help garner support for India’s foreign policy objectives.
MoU with Bhutan
The Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian government and government of Bhutan on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. This MoU was signed on November 19 by both sides at Bengaluru/Thimpu and exchanged, an official release said.
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