Govt's Diwali Bonanza: Bonus For Railways Employees, Rs 22,000 Crore Grant For State-Run Oil Firms

The Union Cabinet has approved a productivity linked bonus of Rs 1,832 crore for 11.27 lakh employees of Indian Railways.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ( Image Source :ANI )

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved an one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore for oil marketing companies of public sector undertakings (PSUs) and announced a bonus for Indian Railways employees.

Addressing a press briefing, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said LPG prices were increasing across the world and the grant was being given to three oil marketing companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) -- to cover the losses they incurred on selling LPG below cost to consumers from June 2020 to June 2022.

"One-time grant of Rs 22,000 crores has been given to Oil marketing companies of public sector undertakings (PSUs) so that the burden of rising prices does not fall on common people," Thakur said.

Between June 2020 to June 2022, the international prices of LPG soared by around 300 per cent, PTI reported. However, the cost increase was not fully passed on to consumers of domestic LPG.

"This decision will help the PSU OMCs to continue their commitment to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, ensuring unhindered domestic LPG supplies and also supporting the procurement of Make in India products," Thakur said.

The Cabinet also approved a productivity linked bonus of Rs 1,832 crore for 11.27 lakh employees of Indian Railways. "It will be a bonus of 78 days and Rs 17,951 will be its maximum limit," he said.

The Cabinet meeting was held earlier today at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.

The amendment to the multi-state cooperative societies law to make it more transparent was also given a green light by the Union Cabinet.

"Union Cabinet has approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which seeks to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002. It will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment," Thakur said.

The Cabinet also gave nod to the "Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)" for the remaining four years from 2022-23 to 2025-26 and the development of a container terminal at Deendayal Port in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 4,539.84 crore.