Centre extends Ujjwala subsidy till FY25, DA hiked to 50% of basic salary Fifth-gen fighter AMCA project gets CCS nod

THE UNION Cabinet on Thursday took a clutch of economic decisions, in what is seen as its last meeting before the general elections are announced. It approved a extension of targeted cooking gas subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2-kg cylinder to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) by one more year till the end of 2024-25 and raised dearness allowance for the central government staff and retirees by four percentage points. Also, an 8-year scheme for over Rs 10,000-crore, was approved to fast-track industrial development in the northeast region.

The LPG subsidy will be provided for up to 12 refills per year. For FY25, total expenditure under the scheme is estimated at Rs 12,000 crore, and the subsidy will be credited directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

Last year in October, the government had raised the subsidy provided to poor women, who got free cooking gas connections under the PMUY, to Rs 300 per cylinder as it looked to blunt opposition criticism of high fuel prices. The government also announced expansion of the scheme with 7.5 million additional LPG connections to be released in three years.

The total subsidy outgo for LPG this fiscal as per revised estimate is Rs 12,240 crore. For next fiscal, the interim Budget had made provision of Rs 11,925 crore under LPG subsidy.

The average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers has increased by 29% from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.87 refills (till January 2024) in 2023-24, according to the government’s latest data.

DA, HRA, gratuity up

The Cabinet on Thursday enhanced the dearness allowance for its staff and pensioners by 4 percentage points to 50% of pay/pension, along with consequential increases in gratuity and house rent allowance. These wage and allowance benefits would cost the Centre over `24,000 crore between January 2024 to February 2025.

Support to NE industry

The cabinet gave its nod to a `10,037-crore “Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialisation Scheme to promote activity in the manufacturing and service sectors in the northeast. Under the scheme, incentives would be provided for setting up new units or undertaking significant expansion of the existing units.

Jute MSP hiked 5.6%

The CCEA on Thursday approved a 5.6% hike in MSP for raw jute for the 2024-25 season to `5,335/quintal compared to the previous season. Increase in the support price will benefit 4 million jute farmers in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. It would also benefit 0.5 million people engaged in the sector.

THE CABINET Committee on Security (CCS) has cleared the project to design and develop India’s fifth-generation fighter jet Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

The AMCA will bring India among a select group of nations, which have developed a fifthgeneration fighter. Only the US, Russia, and China have developed such advanced jets.

The project is under the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the DRDO and it will be manufacturing the prototypes of the aircraft. The manufacturing agency will be Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

The CCS approval for the project has been pending for at least a year and a half. The preliminary design review of the aircraft was over in 2022 itself.

According to the plans, the aircraft is slated to roll out of the hangar within three-and-a-half years of the approval and within a year after that it is slated to have its first flight. AMCA Mk1 will fly on the existing 90kn class engine (GE 414 engines from the US) and AMCA Mk2 will be powered by a stronger engine of 110kn to be developed indigenously by GTRE.