The Union Cabinet, which met on Wednesday, congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for completing 20 years as a democratically elected leader. Mr. Modi, previously served as Chief Minister of Gujarat for three consecutive terms.
In a media briefing later in the day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar elaborated on the key decisions taken.
Here are the key decisions taken:
The Cabinet took a decision on reforming natural gas financing.
The Cabinet discussed the COVID-19 situation and the challenges in the winter ahead. An awareness campaign will start tomorrow to promote masks, social distancing and hand washing, Mr. Javadekar says.
A long-pending Metro project in Kolkata has been cleared.
A memorandum of cooperation with Japan on cyber security has been approved.
A memorandum of understanding with Canada on barcoding of faunal genomes has been approved.
Stockholm convention has been ratified by banning seven more chemicals that are health and environmental hazards.
Govt. allows Reliance, others to sell gas to affiliates; marketing freedom to benefit Cairn, Focus
In a major boost to firms such as Reliance Industries, the government on Wednesday allowed affiliate companies to buy gas produced from non-regulated fields as part of giving complete marketing freedom.
The government between 2016 and 2019 gave pricing freedom for all fields except those given to State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) on a nomination basis.
But, there were restrictions on marketing including a ban on affiliates of producers buying the fuel and in some cases, a state nominee being mandated to offtake the gas. This restricted competition kept prices artificially low.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved natural gas marketing reforms, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters.
Cabinet approves cybersecurity pact with Japan
The Union Cabinet on October 7 approved signing of an agreement with Japan that is aimed at enhancing cooperation in emerging technologies, protection of critical infrastructure, cyberspace and to mitigate threats to communication networks, the government said.
It said India and Japan are committed to an “open, interoperable, free, fair, secure and reliable” cyberspace environment and will work towards promoting the Internet as an engine of innovation and economic growth.
e-bidding system for natural gas
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says the Cabinet has approved a standardized e-bidding system for natural gas. Producers will have the choice of a panel of platforms.
A transparent market price will emerge from this. Producing company cannot participate in the bidding process. Affiliated companies can participate, he says.
Kolkata Metro to be extended
East-West Metro corridor in Kolkata was approved 12 years ago and work was supposed to start. But unfortunately, the state government did not support in land acquisition and the project was stuck, says Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
The work was re-started in 2015. Today, the project with a new alignment and a cost of over Rs.8,575 crore has been approved.
The 16.6km corridor will be completed by December 2021.
On Bengaluru suburban rail project, Mr. Goyal says can't discuss or give any information as the Model Code of Conduct is in force in Karnataka.
Published - October 07, 2020 03:25 pm IST
