
New Delhi: On Thursday, the government approved a number of decisions aimed at strengthening rural loans, expanding the infrastructure of food processing and strengthening the Indian railway network – all with regard to improving the income of farm and economic connection.
The decision was adopted at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The key measures were approval and £2,000 Scheme of the Central Crore sector called Grant-in-Aid for National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). The scheme will run for four years, from FY26 to FY29.
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Improved capital infusion allows NCDC to roughly increase £During this period 20 000 crore from markets. This in turn will allow the agency to expand loans of approximately 2.9 CRORE members of 13 288 cooperative companies spanning sectors such as dairies, livestock, fishing, sugar, textiles, food processing, storage, storage of cooling, work and women.
In a separate move focused on the agricultural sector, the Union’s cabinet also cleaned up and £6.520 Crore Expenditure for ongoing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampad Yojana (PMKSY) during the 15th Commission Finance cycle (2021–22 to 2025–26). This includes another allocation £1 920 crore.
That £1,000 crore has been earmarked to support 50 more food radiation products within the integrated infrastructure component with the addition of cold chain and PMKSY.
Other £920 Crore was approved for projects in various other PMKSY components, including the establishment of 100 laboratories with food testing in the framework of food and quality infrastructure.
“The implementation of the proposed 50 units for radiation with multiple products is expected to create a total preservation capacity ranging from 20 to 30 lacquer metric tons per year, based on the type of food products irradiated under these units,” said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after a press briefing after a cabinet.
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Establishment of 100 laboratories with food testing in the private sector will help build an advanced infrastructure for food sampling, ensuring that food safety standards and safe food supply, Vaishnaw added.
Main pressure on the railway infrastructure
The Cabinet for Economic Affairs Cabinet also cleaned four railway infrastructure projects with a combined expenditure approximately £11 169 crore. The aim is to increase the capacity of critical and strategic railway corridors.
Approved projects include the fourth line between Itars and Nagpur; Doubling Aurangabad (CHHhatparati sambhajinagar) – Parbhani line; And the third and fourth lines on the ALUABARI road – Nový Jalpaiguri and Dangoaposi – Jaroli.
The Jalpaiguri line, which goes through a strategically sensitive corridor of the “chicken neck”, is considered to be decisive for faster movement of passengers, goods and military staff.
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“The increased capacity of the line will significantly increase mobility, which will improve the operating efficiency and reliability of services for Indian railways. These more monitoring proposals are ready to streamline operations and relieve overload,” Vaishnaw said.
Four projects will include 13 districts across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharhand and add about 574 kilometers to the rail network. According to the government, the extension will improve connectivity for approximately 2,309 villages, which represents a population of about 43.6 lamps.
These routes are vital for transporting key commodities, including coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agricultural goods and oil products. Capacity improvements are expected to support another 95.91 million tonnes per year (MTPA) of freight transport.
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Officials also emphasized the environmental and economic impact of rail transport and noted that projects can help India reduce logistics costs, reduce oil import by 160 million liters and avoid 5.15 billion kilograms of emissions – equivalent to planting 2 billion trees.
“Augmentation projects are important as the railroad has shifted a record 720 Crore and 1.6 billion tons of cargo in FY25. Growth has been phenomenal over the last 11 years,” Vaishnaw added.
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