Cabinet nod to five year manufacturing program to support e-mobility

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved setting up of a national mission on transformative mobility and battery storage to drive clean, connected, shared, sustainable and holistic mobility initiatives. It also approved the creation of a five-year phased manufacturing programme to support setting up of a few large-scale, export- competitive integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing Giga plants in the country. This will localise production across the entire electric vehicles value chain.

The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved the creation of a post of a technical member in the Securities Appellate Tribunal in Mumbai. It approved the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme besides river management activities and works related to border areas for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 with a total outlay of Rs 3,342 crore.

The Cabinet approved measures to promote hydropower sector. These include declaring large hydropower projects as part of non-solar renewable purchase obligation. It approved the scheme to rebate state and central embedded taxes to support the textile sector. This will enable the government to take various measures for making exports of apparel and made-ups zero-rated.

The Cabinet also approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Austria's Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology on technology cooperation in the road infrastructure sector. It gave ex-post facto approval of MoU signed in 2008 and renewed in 2014 between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. It approved the MoU renewed on November 13, 2018, between India and Germany on cooperation in the field of occupational safety and health.

The Cabinet approved the agreement between India and Belarus on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters. It also approved an amendment to Article 3 of the agreement between India and Bhutan regarding Mandechhu Hydro Electric Project to extend the loan repayment tenure from 15 to 17 years. The Cabinet approved an MoU between the Union Public Service Commission and the Civil Service Council of Mongolia.

(With inputs from agencies.)