Bhubaneswar: The State Cabinet approved the scheme ‘Coffee Plantation for Sustainable Livelihoods (CPSL)’ to promote coffee plantation in six districts of Odisha with a total outlay of Rs 1144 crore.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said the scheme will be implemented in the districts of Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar and Gajapati.
The existing state coffee area of 10,000 acres is programmed to be expanded by 10 times (to 1 lakh acres) in a period of 10 years. Women SHGs will be involved in raising coffee nurseries and more than 50,000 farm families will be benefited from the scheme, he added.
The budget outlay upto 2026-27 has been made, of which Rs 567 crore will be net through state plan and Rs 577 crore will be met through convergence with other schemes.
The government has also decided to amend the Odisha Government Land Settlement Rules, 1983 to reduce the conversion fee for conversion of leasehold land of Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) and development authorities for residential purposes into freehold from the existing 10 per cent of the prevailing market value of the land to 3 per cent of the valuation of land.
As per a judgment given by the Supreme Court, the Odisha government, in a one-time endeavor, has decided to grant a minimum pension in favour of the 782 Ex-VLWs (village level workers), who had approached the SC in this matter.
The cabinet approved additional budgetary expenditure to the tune of Rs 90 crore for sanction of the arrear minimum pension and Rs 11.38 crore per annum for sanction of minimum pension is considered as a special case.
Further, the cabinet has approved Odisha Procurement Preference Policy for Micro and Small Manufacturing Enterprises 2023. The policy is applicable to all state government establishments as far as procurement of goods by them is concerned.
The policy intends to benefit Odisha small (and micro) manufacturing enterprises (OSMEs) and Startups, whose turnover is not more than Rs 50 crore per annum, Chief Secretary Shri Jena informed.
The cabinet further approved a tender of Rs 329 crore for construction of 6952 bedded working women’s hostel at seafood park Deras in Khurda district.
The proposal to extend the license granted to dealers to operate fair price shops for a period of six month from April, 2024 to September, 2024, has been approved by the Cabinet, said the Chief Secretary.The government has decided to create a new excise station at Koksara in the district of Kalahandi for strengthening of excise administration, he said
