The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, has approved sale of 100 lakh tonnes of wheat under open market sale scheme. The decision was taken at the CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that out of the 100 lakh tonnes, 3 to 9 lakh tonnes will be reserved for sale to small buyers and the remaining for bulk purchasers.
Meanwhile, Food Minister Prof. K V Thomas told reporters that the sale price of wheat will be 1,500 rupees per quintal ex-godown from Punjab excluding freight charges. He said, five lakh tonnes of rice has also been allocated to States. Prof. Thomas said that the Food Ministry will send a separate note to the Cabinet for export of two million tonnes of wheat from government stocks next week.
The CCEA also approved 5 per cent disinvestment in the public sector company, Neyveli Lignite Corporation. The government currently holds 93.56 per cent stake in it. This will help garner around 466 crore rupees to the public exchequer. The Finance Minister told reporters that the decision to disinvest five per cent equity sale has been taken to make the Navratna company compliant with Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, norms. Referring to the objections raised by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr Chidambaram said that the Prime Minister has already given a detailed reply to the Chief Minister's letter.
The CCEA in another decision approved import of coal by Coal India Limited, CIL, to meet the shortfall in the domestic coal requirement of the thermal power plants. Mr Chidambaram said that CIL will sign Fuel Supply Agreements, FSA, with power companies for installed power generation capacity of 78,000 Mega Watt which are likely to be commissioned by 31st March 2015.
He said that taking into account the overall domestic availability and actual requirements, CIL will sign FSAs for domestic coal supply of 65 per cent of annual contracted quantity each for 2013-14 and 2014-15, 67 per cent for 2015-16 and 75 per cent for 2016-17. To meet the remaining obligations, the CIL can import coal and supply it to willing power plants on cost plus basis. The plants can also import coal on their own. Replying to a question, Mr Chidambaram said with this arrangement, power tariff price will result in marginal increase. He said it is better to have power slightly costly than having no power.
The CCEA also gave its nod to a proposal for substituting concessionaire in stalled National Highways projects to expedite implementation of road and infrastructure in the country. The proposal will require consent of lending banks and also National Highways Authority of India. In case of default by the substituted concessionaire, the original concessionaire will be subjected to penalty.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved continuation of Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme in the 12th Plan. Initially 50 thousand crore rupees will be provided as a loan from the Centre and financial institutions. The Finance Minister said the total grant from the Centre is estimated at 31,577 crore rupees. He said the loan amount will be later converted into grant if the States succeed in achieving the targets.
