Centre announces 10K e-buses, subsidised loans for craftsmen

The Centre on Wednesday announced 10,000 new electric buses across 100 cities under the PM e-bus Seva.

At a briefing after the Union cabinet meeting, Union I&B minister Anurag Thakur said the PM e-bus seva has been approved by the cabinet to bolster green mobility. The scheme has been allocated 57,613 cores, he added.

Here are the top points on announcements made during Centre’s cabinet briefing:

1. Out of 169 cities, 100 cities will be chosen on a challenge method, Thakur said on PM e-bus Seva initiative.

2. Informing further about the new scheme, he said, “Out of ₹57,613 crores, ₹20,000 crores will be provided by the Central government. The scheme will cover cities with 3 lakhs and above population. Under this scheme, city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model will be done. This scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.”

3. The cabinet also approved the Vishwakarma Yojana scheme, said Union railways, communications, electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during the brief.

4. Under the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the government will promote traditional skills including pottery, blacksmithing, construction, tailoring, and boat-building which have been transferred through the previous generations.

5. Vishwakarma Yojana is expected to benefit 30 lakh craftsmen families. The ₹13,000 crore scheme will enable craftsmen to get subsidised loans up to ₹2 lakh, said Vaishnaw as reported by PTI.

6. “There are two types of skill program under the scheme and a stipend of ₹500 will be given to those who are taking benefit of the scheme and to buy modern tools, Rs. 15,000 in mode of support will be given. And loans up to Rs. 1,00,000 to the beneficiaries of the Vishwakarma scheme,” said Vaishnaw.

7. Cabinet approved the extension of the Digital India program with an outlay of ₹14,903 crores, informed Vaishnaw. ‘Bhashini’, the national digital public platform for universal language translation will also be introduced under the Digital India program, he added.

8. During the cabinet meet, the Centre also decided to add nine more supercomputers to the already existing 18 systems deployed in the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), news agency PTI quoted Vaishnaw as saying.

9. The Union Cabinet has approved seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways with an outlay of Rs. 32,500 crore, said Vaishnaw. “The government, under PM Modi, is extensively focusing on the development of the Railways,” he added.

10. During the cabinet meet, the Centre also approved extension of DigiLocker to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “DigiLockercurrently is available only for individuals, and it now has more than 40 crore subscribers. Soon, a new extension of DigiLocker will be launched for MSMEs,” Vaishnaw explained.