Key Cabinet decisions today: Prices of ethanol hiked, subsidy to P&K fertilizers extended; and more

The Union Cabinet decided to raise the price of ethanol from all three varieties. The price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane juice was increased to Rs 65.61 per litre, from the current Rs 63.45 per litre for the supply year beginning December 2022.

The rate for ethanol from the C-heavy molasses route has been increased to Rs 49.41 per litre, from Rs 46.66 per litre currently, and that of ethanol from the B-heavy route to Rs 60.73 per litre, from Rs 59.08 per litre.

At present, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 per cent ethanol, 90 per cent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2024-25.

“We have saved about Rs 40,000 crore in forex outgo from 10 per cent blending besides benefiting the farmers,” Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said during a press conference.

Fertilizer

In another decision, the cabinet approved a subsidy of Rs 51,875 crore for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for second half of 2022-23 as part of efforts to provide affordable soil nutrients to farmers. A subsidy of Rs 98.02 per kg for nitrogen (N), Rs 66.93 per kg for phosphorus (P), Rs 23.65 per kg for potash (K) and Rs 6.12 per kg for sulphur (S) will be provided, according to an official statement.

In view of steep increase in the international prices of fertilisers and inputs i.e urea, DAP, MOP and sulphur, the government has decided to absorb the increased prices by increasing subsidy on P&K fertilisers, including DAP.

The subsidy would be released to fertiliser companies as per approved rates so that they can make fertilisers available to farmers at an affordable price, the statement said.

Airport

The Cabinet also approved the proposal to name the new airport in Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar’.

The greenfield airport at Hollongi in Itanagar is being developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with the help of the Centre and the state government at a cost of Rs 646 crore. The central government gave its ‘in-principle’ approval for development of the airport in January 2019.

Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar, reflects the people’s reverence of the Sun (Donyi) and the Moon (Polo) to symbolise the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the state, according to an official statement.

MoU with Denmark

In another development, Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Denmark on cooperation in the field of water resources development and management.

Broadly, the MoU covers ease of information access, integrated and smart water resources development and management, aquifer mapping, groundwater modelling, monitoring and recharge, efficient and sustainable water supply at household level, reduction of non-revenue water and energy consumption.

A Letter of Intent was signed between the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Denmark’s environment ministry on May 3 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Scandinavian country.

(With PTI inputs)