Cabinet clears investment panel, urea policy

It also approved the long pending urea investment policy that will incentives setting up of new fertiliser plants and expansion of existing ones aimed at cutting import dependence, and simplified procedures for award of road projects faster.

The Cabinet also slashed by 30 per cent the base price for telecom airwaves in four circles like Delhi and Mumbai that went unsold in the near flow spectrum auction last month.

The clutch of decisions come on top of various measures taken by the government in the last few months to prop up economy and to boost investor confidence.

The major decision of the day was setting up of a Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) which will accord single-window approval including environmental clearance to mega projects of over Rs 1,000 crore.

There are over 100 projects, each involving investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more, which are held up because of some reason or the other.

The high-powered panel for according speedy clearance to infrastructure projects was initially mooted by Finance Minister P Chidambaram who had suggested at the meeting of the National Development Council creation of a National Investment Board (NIB) for the purpose.

The Cabinet, however, renamed the proposed body as Cabinet Committee on Investment. The panel will have ministers in charge of infrastructure sectors as its members.

Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan had written to the Prime Minister expressing her reservations over creation of NIB saying nothing should be done to by-pass the required green clearance of mega projects. MORE