VIP security: Yogi government to upgrade fleet of bulletproof cars

UP cabinet clears Rs 230 million proposal to induct 95 new SUVs for escort duty

Even as security has been beefed in Uttar Pradesh in wake of the recent Amritsar terror attack, the Yogi Adityanath government is upgrading its fleet of bulletproof and police escort vehicles.

The Adityanath cabinet today approved the plan to induct 95 new Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) in the police escort fleet, including bulletproof vehicles. The plan would cost the exchequer almost Rs 230 million and comprise vehicles from the Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors stables.

Of the 95 new police escort vehicles, 16 would be deployed for security duty in Gorakhpur and Ghaziabad districts alone, UP health minister and government spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh said briefing media after the state cabinet meeting here this afternoon.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has cleared the proposal to reimburse state Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the multiplexes as per the UP multiplex policy. The state would take a hit of almost Rs 76 million per year by foregoing its state GST revenue, while the scheme would cover the period from July 2017 to June 2020.

Under the new alternative energy policy announced in February 2018, the Adityanath government had announced to provide 15% subsidy on greenfield plants subject to the ceiling of Rs 1.50 billion, while promising to reimburse the state GST for 10 years. The government had received 3 bids for the setting of a 500 megawatt (mw) plant. Subsequently, the state had selected Delhi-based SunLight Fuels Limited for developing the said plant by investing more than Rs 15.50 billion in Sitapur.

The cabinet has approved the issuance of the ‘letter of comfort’ to the selected company, which would facilitate land acquisition. The plant would utilise about 500 tonnes of farm waste, including bagasse, to produce nearly 175,000 litres of green fuel per year. The project is likely to span nearly 90 acres.

The company has tied up with the local Birla Group operated sugar mill in Hargaon, Sitapur for getting bagasse supply for biofuel production. The Hargaon mill is one of the largest sugar mills in UP with about 10,000 tonnes sugarcane crushed per day (TCD) capacity.

Earlier, a committee headed by the state chief secretary had approved 6 biofuel projects in the state. The 5 other projects entail investment of more than Rs 200 million each and are proposed to utilise farm waste, press mud (sugarcane byproduct) and other agro waste to produce biofuel, bio CNG and bio fertiliser. Each of these units is expected to produce roughly 5,000 kg of bio CNG a day. These private projects are proposed to be set up in Sitapur, Hapur, Meerut, Bareilly and Muzaffarnagar.

The Adityanath government had netted private investment proposals worth over Rs 728 billion in the green energy sector. Meanwhile, the cabinet also cleared some solar energy projects.