UP Set to Meet 'One District, One Medical College' Target Soon: Chief Minister

A Cabinet meeting was held at the Chief Minister's office on Saturday. It was chaired by Rajasthan Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal Sharma.

At the meet, some major decisions were taken related to increasing power generation and metro services. The Cabinet has agreed to the proposal for formation of a JV with the Union government and its agencies, and constitution of an infrastructure investment trust.

Major initiatives were also launched to fill up the shortage of super specialty teachers in the Medical Education Department of the state.

Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa, flanked by Industry Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, addressed a press conference after the meeting to detail out the decisions of the Cabinet.

Deputy Chief Minister Bairwa announced that, in accordance with the Metro Rail Policy of 2017, a joint venture between the Union government and the state has been sanctioned. This would facilitate the development, operation, and management of Metro rail projects in the state of Rajasthan either already under implementation or to be implemented in the future. Same JV models are working in states like Delhi, Kochi, Bangalore, Uttar Pradesh, Noida, Madhya Pradesh, and Nagpur with immense success. This JV will receive financial support from the Union government in the form of equity and loans, besides technical and administrative support for metro projects in the state.

State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patel said continuous efforts are being taken by the government to make the state energy self-sufficient. The Cabinet approved the formation of joint ventures with central PSUs in line with the MoU signed on March 10, 2024. This was signed between the state government and various central public sector undertakings. The state government will have 26% stake in the ventures while the share of central PSUs will be 74%. The share capital of the state's stake will come from the existing assets.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rathore announced that two different JVs would be formed with Coal India Limited and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam or RVUNL. One is going to deal with some thermal project, and the other will be related to renewable energy. The two ventures are likely to meet both base and peak load electricity requirements and also relieve the state exchequer of the financial burden on power generation.

A Joint venture shall be formed with NTPC Green Energy and RVUNL for developing renewable energy projects consisting of 25,000 MW Solar/Wind Hybrid or stand-alone energy. It would bring an investment of ₹1 lakh crore to the state.

Rathore further said that a joint venture with Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam would be formed for the same. This JV company shall develop and maintain a transmission system to match the ever-growing demand for electricity, for which an investment of ₹10,000 crore has already been provided.

He said that the state's vote on account for 2024-25 provides for an Infrastructure Investment Trust in the Transmission Corporation, in line with Union government guidelines. The Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited shall set up an InvIT, which shall be registered with the SEBI, and this shall help RVPN to monetize transmission assets.

The Cabinet also allowed to amend the Rajasthan Medical Service College Education Rules for addressing the shortage of super specialty teachers. The amendment will help the state to recruit Acharya and Co-Acharya posts through special recruitment. This step has strengthened super specialty health services.

Moreover, the post of Physical Education Instructor in the Sanskrit Education Department shall be renamed as Physical Education Teacher in tune with the norms of the Education Department. All eligibility criteria for various teaching cadres of the Sanskrit Education Department have been made at par with those of the Elementary Education Department. There will be 2,600 new recruitments, out of which 179 will be Physical Education Teachers and 48 will be librarians Grade 3.