The cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme to provide incentives to encourage digital transactions through RuPay Debit Card and BHIM UPI of small amounts. Union Minister Anurag Thakur while briefing the press said the scheme will incur an expense of around Rs 1,300 Crore.
The minister said that the government will reimburse transaction charges levied on digital payments made by persons to the merchant as part of the merchant discount rate (MDR).
“In the coming one year…the government will invest around Rs 1,300 crore so that more and more people move towards digital payments,” Vaishnaw said.
He also said that 423 crore digital transactions valued at Rs 7.56 lakh crore took place in November.
The Minister also apprised that the cabinet has cleared the production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) for semiconductors with the ambition of making the country an electronics hub as the shortage of microchips hurts industrial production.
“An ambitious project to establish a complete ecosystem of semiconductors and display manufacturing has been sanctioned. Rs 76,000 crores will be spent on this project in 6 years”, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur while briefing the press.
Another scheme approved by the Cabinet is the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana for 2021-26. The scheme is said to benefit to about 22 lakh farmers, including 2.5 lakh SC and 2 lakh ST farmers.