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The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a new formula for pricing of natural gas and imposed cap or ceiling price to rein in runaway prices of CNG and piped cooking gas. Natural gas produced from legacy or old fields, known as APM gas, will now be indexed to crude oil price instead of pricing it based gas prices in surplus nations such as the US, Canada and Russia, Union I&B Miniser Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet. From April 1, APM gas will be priced at 10 per cent of the price of basket of crude oil that India imports (Indian basket of crude oil). The rate such arrived at however will be capped at USD 6.5 per million British thermal unit as against current gas price of USD 8.57 per mmBtu. The price such arrived at will also have a floor of USD 4 per mmBtu. Rates will be decided every month instead of current practice of bi-annual revision, he said.
The Union Cabinet has approved a bill to decriminalise minor offences by rationalising related provisions under different ministries to ensure ease of doing business, sources said on Friday. The proposal was mooted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Sources said that the Cabinet discussed the Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 in a meeting here and has approved it as the bill is likely to be introduced in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. The bill proposes to rationalise about 110 provisions across 35 Acts administered by 16 ministries/departments. Explaining the rationale behind the proposed legislation, one of the sources said that taking the reform agenda to the next level, the government is focussing on reducing the overall compliance burden for businesses and citizens. For this, a four-pronged strategy of simplification, digitisation, decriminalisation of provisions for minor offences, an
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the Union Cabinet decision to increase the minimum support price for kharif crops will empower crores of farmers. The government has taken an important decision in the interest of farmers, he said in a tweet. The Centre on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for kharif crops by 4-9 per cent for the 2022-23 crop year, with paddy MSP being raised by Rs 100 to Rs 2,040 per quintal, a move aimed at encouraging farmers to bring more area under cultivation and boost their income. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by PM Modi, approved the increase in MSPs for all 14 kharif (summer) crops for 2022-23 crop year.