Nod for raising Amaravati bonds through BSE

Target ₹2,000 crore; standing committee to oversee the process

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu chairing the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat in Velagapudi on Thursday.

The Cabinet has cleared the decks for raising ₹2,000 crore through the Bombay Stock Exchange’s electronic bidding platform at a coupon rate of 10.32% payable quarterly with a basic issue size of ₹1,300 crore and a greenshoe option of ₹700 crore for funding the construction of Capital city Amaravati.

Briefing media persons on the decisions taken by the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday, Minister for Information and Public Relations K. Srinivasulu said a standing committee was being formed to oversee the issuance of the bonds, evaluate the coupon rate and take care of fee and other arrangements.

10,000 posts to be filled

The Cabinet has decided to fill 10,000 and odd posts in various departments in the coming months in addition to an equal number already filled since April 2016. It was resolved on April 2, 2016, to make recruitment for a total 20,000 posts.

The Cabinet decided to develop an airstrip at Kuppam in Chittoor district and an airport near Anantapur to cash in on the rapid growth in the civil aviation sector. However, the airstrip at Kuppam will handle only non-scheduled/chartered flights.

Area under

VUDA goes up

The Council of Ministers approved the expansion of the purview of the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) from the existing 5,573 square km to 6764.59 square km and rechristen it as Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA).

The VMRDA will have Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, Srikakulam Municipal Corporation, Vizianagaram, Amadalavalasa, Yalamanchili and Tuni municipalities and Rajam and Nellimarla Nagara Panchayats in its jurisdiction. The Cabinet extended the ban on the CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisations for another year from August 16. The Cabinet approved the Mega Seed Park Policy-2018 paving the way for the establishment of the Kurnool Mega Seed Park (KMSP) in collaboration with Iowa State University and other partner institutions. It is expected to attract investments amounting to ₹3,000 crore by 2023.

Market stabilisation fund

The Cabinet gave its nod for creation of an agricultural market stabilisation fund under the purview of the AP-Markfed with a likely corpus of ₹500 crore to help farmers in realising Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The stage has been set by the Cabinet for the formation of a Physiotherapy Council to regulate the profession of physiotherapists and improve the standards of physiotherapy courses.

Pay hike for

ASHA workers

The Cabinet has further cleared the payment of ₹3,000 as minimum wages to the ASHA workers and productivity-linked incentives. This will benefit 43,046 ASHA workers.

The Cabinet approved some amendments to the A.P. Electric Mobility Policy - 2018 which enables the government to exempt electric vehicles purchased by it or private organisations and individuals from registration charges and road tax till 2024 and give other incentives.

The Cabinet also gave the green signal for A.P. Textile, Apparels and Garments Policy 2018-23 under which various incentives will be given and supportive measures taken in order to attract investments worth ₹15,000 crore.