NEW DELHI: 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.
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.
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.