The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved seven major decisions covering infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, mobile phone production, fertiliser and railway projects. According to reports from The Times of India, the package includes Semicon 2.0, the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) and the National Investment Policy for Urea-2026, with a combined outlay of ₹2,19,353 crore. The announcements came during a press briefing after the Cabinet and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The first two Cabinet decisions relate to major infrastructure projects in Varanasi aimed at developing the city. As reported by The Times of India, the cabinet has approved the construction of a 46.039-km link corridor connecting National Highway-19 (NH-19) with the Varanasi Ring Road. The project will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) at a total cost of ₹14,447.64 crore, including ₹6,037.85 crore for civil construction and ₹541.11 crore towards land acquisition under NH(O). The corridor will feature a six-lane elevated carriageway, an iconic cable-stayed bridge, and an extradosed foot over bridge-cum-major bridge along with loops, ramps, link roads and service roads.
According to reports from The Times of India, the IT minister announced the approval of the second edition of the India Semiconductor Mission, or Semicon 2.0 Mission, with an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore. Minister Vaishnaw further announced the extension of the Mobile PLI scheme, with ₹62,500 crore laid out for its second edition. The Semicon 2.0 Mission was approved during the Cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As reported by The Times of India, the Cabinet approved the National Investment Policy for urea, under which 9 new urea plants will be set up. The initiative will help achieve 1 crore additional urea requirement, to help India become self-reliant in urea demand. The sixth and seventh decisions relate to proposals for the upgradation of the railway network, including track doubling and the construction of a fourth railway line.
According to latest reports, the Cabinet has approved nearly ₹4,000 crore for railway upgrades that will speed up freight transport and connect key ports with industrial hubs. Additionally, there is a new policy to boost local fertilizer production (so India imports less), supporting the overall fertilizer self-reliance initiative. The railway upgrades include track doubling and construction of a fourth railway line to enhance connectivity across the country.
