NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday decided to reconfigure the Kishanganga hydro-electric project in Jammu and Kashmir to overcome Pakistani objections. It will now be a run-of-the-river project and not a storage-cum-hydroelectric one as was planned.

Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said the new proposal would shift the project from the coverage of Annexure `E' to Annexure `D' of the Indus Water Treaty.

The revision of the scheme would not have any adverse impact on the power generation capacity of the project. It would still have an installed capacity of 330 MW.

Chaired by Prime Minister, the Cabinet meeting also approved the reconstruction plan announced for Jammu and Kashmir in November 2004, with a relaxation of the "Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana" (Golden Jubilee Urban Employment Scheme) specifically for the plan.

The plan would be applicable to all families in urban areas that lived below the poverty line, with an increase in the subsidy amount to 30 per cent for all categories including SCs/ STs women.

The beneficiaries will also be allowed to purchase machinery and goods for the micro-enterprises of their own choice from the market, subject to verification by financial institutions, and training and skill upgradation would be permitted as a stand-alone programme without necessarily linking it to self-employment. The upper limit for training cost would be more for the plan. It would be Rs. 5,000 a trainee, inclusive of the training manual.

The Central share for the plan would also be higher. The Centre-State ratio of the funding for the project would be 90:10, as against 75:25 for the rest of the country. The meeting also decided to release Rs. 8.49 crores as the Centre's share for the current financial year.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States in the area of civil aviation. The pact provides for assistance by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the U.S. in developing and modernising the civil aviation infrastructure here in managerial, operational and technical areas.

The MoU will be in the form of an umbrella agreement and is intended to facilitate organisations such as the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation in getting assistance from the FAA.

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