Cabinet Approvals and Economic Initiatives

India Semiconductor Mission

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved ₹1.27 lakh crore for the second edition of the India Semiconductor Mission.
• The initiative aims to attract investments worth ₹4 lakh crore and achieve semiconductor production valued at ₹2 lakh crore during the scheme duration.
• Key focus areas include incentivizing suppliers of raw materials in the chip manufacturing sector and fostering indigenous chip design and production.
• The first edition of the mission had an allocation of ₹76,000 crore, resulting in 12 approved projects with investments totaling ₹1.64 lakh crore, primarily driven by Tata Electronics.

Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS)

• An outlay of ₹62,500 crore has been approved to boost mobile phone manufacturing and build Indian brands.
• The scheme offers incentives ranging from 2.25% to 5% on eligible sales and an additional 1.5% linked to domestic sourcing of components.
• Expected outcomes include mobile phone production reaching ₹39 lakh crore and generating approximately 60,000 direct jobs.

Highway Projects

• Two major highway projects worth ₹25,400 crore were approved to ease congestion in Varanasi.
• The projects will be implemented by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).
• The projects aim to significantly reduce travel times and improve logistics efficiency, tourism, and economic growth in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

National Investment Policy for Urea (NIPU-2026)

• The policy aims to establish 8-9 new gas-based urea plants with a production capacity of 10 million tons to achieve self-reliance in urea.
• It includes revisions from the 2012 New Investment Policy (NIP) to encourage new investments in the urea sector.
• Key revisions include separating fixed and variable costs for transparency and introducing a viable return on equity (RoE) band with a floor of 12% and a ceiling of 16%.

Current Urea Sector Status

• The country imports about 10 million tons of urea annually to meet domestic shortages, with a domestic production of 30 million tons against a requirement of 40 million tons.
• There are currently 33 operational urea manufacturing units with a total installed capacity of 26.94 million tons.